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He’s a Blue Jay for now because the club wanted to deepen its bench for its two-game series in Philadelphia. Pinch-hitting is prevalent under National League rules.

“Hague’s tearing it up down there (in Buffalo),” manager John Gibbons said. “He may come in, get a chance to pinch-hit, do something for us.”

Hague was leading the International League with a .348 average. He is in no danger of falling into second place; the runner-up is 56 points behind. Hague also leads the IL in hits (161), RBIs (83) and OPS (.909).

“When you’re down there, you see the stuff that’s going on up here and you’re kind of just itching to get up here and help in any way,” he said. “It’s fun to be part of something like this.”

Hague, from Bellevue, Wash., credits his success at Buffalo with “a lot of truthful self-analysis — trying to learn from my mistakes in the past.” He is a .302 hitter in eight minor-league seasons.

His past also includes a link to Toronto, something he learned only recently. His father, Paul Hague, was born there.

His grandfather, Donald Hague, was a NASA employee who spent two years in Toronto working on an aviation project, he said.

“He was helping do some stuff with airplane wings. I don’t know the full story,” Hague said.

With the arrival of Hague and extra outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, the Jays have the luxury of a six-man bench. The club may not need to create a roster vacancy until Aug. 29, when starter Drew Hutchison is scheduled to return from Buffalo.

Asked how long he expects Hague to stick with the team, Gibbons replied: “I got no idea.”

To some degree, at least, the answer to that question lies with Hague.