Sanchez exits with split nail after 1 inning in return from DL

Aaron Sanchez's return from the disabled list didn't go as planned Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander - out since April 14 due to a blister on his right middle finger - exited his start against the Tampa Bay Rays after just one inning with a split nail on that same finger, the team announced.

"It's frustrating. I did everything I was supposed to do and everything I've done before to be ready for this start," Sanchez told Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling following his club's 3-1 win. "You don't even think about the nail splitting in a different direction. It's just something that occurred. And now that it's occurred, we handle it and move on."

Sanchez, who had part of his fingernail removed to alleviate his blister woes, issued a leadoff walk to Corey Dickerson to open the series finale, throwing five of his first six pitches for balls, but rebounded nicely by fanning Kevin Kiermaier before getting Evan Longoria to bounce into an inning-ending double play. He didn't throw any offspeed pitches, though, avoiding the curveball responsible for the blister problems that have hampered him since spring training.

As soon as Sanchez returned to the dugout, Ryan Tepera started warming up in the bullpen, and the 29-year-old reliever ended up replacing Sanchez for the top of the second.

"I looked down at it early, maybe after the Dickerson walk, and there was blood everywhere," Sanchez said. "I was just like, 'get out of the inning and hopefully I can pitch through it.' But once (Blue Jays trainers) had seen blood, they wanted to make sure it didn't get worse.

"There was stinging underneath the nail. It was like someone grabbing your nail and ripping it out. That doesn't feel good."

Before landing on the disabled list, Sanchez, the American League ERA leader last year, posted a 4.38 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over his first two starts of 2017, notching nine strikeouts while allowing three home runs in 12 1/3 innings.