Jays Bats Awaken To Beat Orioles: Encarnacion homers twice

Blue Jays 13 Orioles 6

I don't know what Mark Buehrle has done to this team, but maybe some of the other pitchers should start doing it because whenever Buehrle is on the hill, the Blue Jays have no trouble scoring.

After a 1-2-3 first inning, the second inning is where everything started to happen. Edwin Encarnacion hit his first of two homeruns to lead off the inning off of Orioles starter Bud Norris. That was followed by a Dioner Navarro double (he went to third on a Travis Snider error) and back-to-back walks to Russell Martin and Dalton Pompey. Ryan Goins drove in two more and the Jays were on their way to a six run inning that sent 10 hitters to the plate.

They followed that up with three more in the third and Mark Buehrle did the rest. He threw strikes, allowed runs but the game was all but over. Liam Hendriks, Aaron Loup and Marco Estrada pitched out of the bullpen and Hendriks and Loup didn't have their best performances, but when the game is in garbage time, it's hard to judge pitchers. Estrada struck out the side after a lead-off single which was encouraging for him.

However, it could have been a lot worse for Hendriks if not for a great play by Kevin Pillar in left field. He had full extension on an Adam Jones line drive to left-center with the bases loaded runners on second and third [thanks for the correction in the comments below - I relied on Sportsnet's graphic rather than my own scorecard] and doubled off Chris Davis at second to end the seventh inning.

Even though the result was all but final, there were still some fireworks late in the game. Encarnacion hit his second homerun of the game that hit the 500 level and travelled over 450 feet. It was the 18th homerun to reach the upper deck, and he is the third player to reach the upper deck multiple times.

Then, Jason Garcia threw behind Jose Bautista in the seventh inning and later in the at bat, Bautista launched a ball over the left field fence and enjoyed it as we all know Bautista does when he's not pleased with the opposing pitcher. He then tried to throw out Delmon Young on a single to right to lead off the next inning. This could get rather interesting for the rest of the series and season against the Orioles.

He also exchanged words with Ryan Flaherty and Adam Jones.

I'm not sure if the throw was on purpose, but teams should either make sure they hit Bautista, or just not try. He will make you pay more often than not.

Good on the Blue Jays not to escalate things further. You beat them on the scoreboard, that's all that counts. Regardless of what Gregg Zaun said.

(For those who didn't watch, Zaun said he would absolutely throw at the top of the Orioles lineup in the top of the ninth of a 13-6 game. I'm glad he's not in charge...)

Jose Reyes returned to the lineup, hitting only right-handed instead of being a switch hitter due to his injury only affecting him while batting left-handed. He didn't seem to be affected by the injury and managed a couple of good swings including a long fly ball to left in the 3rd inning. He also stole a base and played well in the field showing no ill effects from the injury.

The Lineup:

Jose Reyes: 0/4, 2 RBI, SB
Josh Donaldson: 3/4. 2 2B, RBI
Jose Bautista: 1/5, HR, 2 RBI
Edwin Encarnacion: 2/5, 2 HR, 2 RBI
Dioner Navarro: 3/5, 2B
Russell Martin: 0/3, 2 BB (scored twice)
Dalton Pompey: 3/4, 3 runs, one of which on a great slide (see above) on a Reyes ground ball
Kevin Pillar: 2/5, 2 RBI, Another great catch and assist (and almost a second assist)
Ryan Goins: 2/4, 3 RBI

Jays of the Day: Everybody? You could definitely make that argument. The best were Goins (+.139) and Encarnacion (+.103) who had their hits at the biggest moments. Pompey (+.060) really had a great game and a nice bounce back from a tough game on Sunday. Buehrle (+.075) did his job (6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and is now 3-0. I'll add another honourable mention for Bautista because he's awesome. Donaldson continues to kill the baseball.

No Jays suckage. Bautista and Pillar were the only negatives in WPA, and they contributed in other ways that moved them way out of the negative in my eyes.

Up Next: A rematch of the last time these last two teams played, as Aaron Sanchez goes up against Ubaldo Jimenez for the second time this season. Game time is at 7:07 p.m. Considering that Jimenez was thrown out of his last start for throwing at Pablo Sandoval, and the way this game ended, it could get interesting.