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Blue Jays' Sanchez exits in 4th with blister on middle finger

Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Blisters have struck Aaron Sanchez once again.

The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander left Friday's start against the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning due to a blister on his right middle finger, the team announced.

After allowing two runs over his first three innings, Sanchez opened the fourth by hitting James McCann, throwing a wild pitch, and then walking Nicky Delmonico, prompting a visit from manager Charlie Montoyo and trainer Nikki Huffman. He departed shortly thereafter and was replaced on the mound by Sam Gaviglio.

Sanchez expressed hope that this blister won't send him to the injured list and is expecting to make his next start, scheduled for Wednesday against Boston.

"I don't have any intentions in not making my next start," Sanchez told Sportsnet's Arash Madani. "We'll see the next few days and how it responds. A similar situation happened before (earlier this season), and I was still able to make my start in five days. I'm not really thinking that I need to miss time, but we'll see the next few days and if I do, I'm not going to be stubborn and not.

"I'd rather miss one (start) instead of another half of a year. I'll be all right."

Sanchez was limited to eight starts in 2017 because of recurring blisters on his pitching hand and had his 2018 campaign curtailed due to a different finger injury. He had to leave a start in Oakland last month after breaking a fingernail.

The 26-year-old, who struck out four in his three-plus innings of work Friday, owns a 3.88 ERA and has recorded 50 strikeouts through 10 starts this season.

Sanchez is the latest Blue Jays starting pitcher to suffer an injury this year. The team currently has four of its starters - veterans Clay Buchholz, Matt Shoemaker, and Clayton Richard, plus youngster Ryan Borucki - on the IL.

Montoyo said postgame that left-handed knuckleballer Ryan Feierabend is likely to be called up from Triple-A to start Saturday, according to Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith.

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