TORONTO -- Russell Martin took some time to get rolling at the plate this season. He is rolling now and he in nearly unstoppable.

The Toronto Blue Jays catcher, who was the designated hitter Tuesday night with Josh Thole catching knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, was 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and two RBIs in the Blue Jays' 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

"He's smoking hot right now," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He was due for that, he such a good hitter."

Michael Saunders hit his 21st homer of the season in the eighth against right-handed reliever A.J. Achter.

Nick Buss hit his first major-league home run for the Angels (52-73). The left fielder also had an infield single and a stolen base.

The Blue Jays (71-54) remained tied for first in the American League East with the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Tuesday.

Martin is batting .469 (15-for-32) with six homers and 13 RBIs in his past eight games.

"We've been waiting a long time for that guy (Martin) to break out and he kind of quietly started raking a couple of months ago," said Darwin Barney who played second base Tuesday and was 2-for-4 with a walk and a double from the leadoff spot. "It's fun to watch him up there. He's seeing the ball well and staying in his lane."

Dickey (9-13) allowed six hits, two walks and two runs before he was replaced by Joe Biagini after walking Cliff Pennington with two outs in the seventh. The right-hander struck out two and allowed a home run in winning for the second time in his past seven starts.

Angels starter Tyler Skaggs (1-3) allowed four hits, five walks and four runs in four-plus innings. The left-hander struck out two.

"Unfortunately, kind of the same stuff we've seen the last couple of starts." Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "His stuff looked good. He definitely threw too many pitches behind in the count. At times he got into the count and had trouble putting guys away."

"Just not the results that I want," Skaggs said. "I've got to be better. I was trying to be too fine today. Not my best work today. It's frustrating."

After Biagini pitched 1 1/3 innings, Scott Feldman took over in the ninth and pitched around an infield single.

The Blue Jays scored once in the first.

Barney led off with a double and took third on Josh Donaldson's groundout to Skaggs. After Edwin Encarnacion walked, Martin hit an RBI single.

Buss homered in the second to give the Angels a 2-1 lead. It scored Andrelton Simmons, who reached on an infield single to shortstop and had three hits on the game.

"I felt good about handling the middle of their order, I didn't feel so good about handling the lower half of their order," Dickey said.

"(Buss) looks very comfortable at the plate," Scioscia said. "He's certainly not overmatched. He's hitting the ball hard. He looks like he belongs here."

"(Dickey) was fantastic," Gibbons said. "After the two-run homer he was in cruise control."

The Blue Jays used three walks and a single to take a 3-2 lead in the third.

Barney and Donaldson walked and Encarnacion singled to load the bases. Martin walked to force in a run and Troy Tulowitzki grounded into a double play to score another.

A double by Kevin Pillar, a groundout by Saunders and a sacrifice fly by Thole put the Blue Jays into a 4-2 lead in the fourth.

Skaggs was replaced in the fifth by Mike Morin after giving up a leadoff walk to Donaldson.

After Donaldson was caught trying to steal second, Encarnacion walked, Martin singled, Tulowitzki delivered an RBI double and Melvin Upton Jr. hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-2 Toronto lead.

NOTES: Toronto reinstated CF Kevin Pillar (strained left thumb) from the disabled list Tuesday and optioned RHP Ryan Tepera to Triple-A Buffalo. Pillar jammed his thumb Aug. 7 while sliding into second base at Kansas City. Pillar was 6-for-7 in two rehabilitation games with Class-A Dunedin. ... RF Jose Bautista (sprained left knee) is expected to leave the disabled list Thursday. ... Angels RHP Huston Street is expected to have season-ending surgery, pending the result of a re-evaluation of his right knee Tuesday. He last pitched on July 31 before going on the disabled list. ... Blue Jays 2B Devon Travis had an injection in the third knuckle of his right hand and was given Tuesday off. ... Toronto RHP Marco Estrada (7-5, 3.20 ERA) faces Los Angeles RHP Matt Shoemaker (7-13, 4.14 ERA) in the middle contest of the three-game series Wednesday.