The Canadian Press
Gregory Strong
TORONTO—The Toronto Blue Jays finally are looking like the team that mashed its way to a division title last season.
Edwin Encarnacion drove in six runs, including a three-run homer in a six-run third inning, as the Jays pasted the Texas Rangers 12-2 last night at Rogers Centre.
Josh Donaldson scored three runs and Jose Bautista scored twice as Toronto pumped out 15 hits and reached a double-digit run total for the first time this season.
“We’ve been waiting on that outburst,” noted Jays’ manager John Gibbons.
“We really did what we do best tonight.”
Encarnacion hit a bases-clearing double in Toronto’s five-run first inning before turning on the first pitch he saw from Derek Holland in the third for his fifth homer of the season.
The Jays extended their winning streak to three games and returned to the .500 mark at 15-15.
It was Toronto’s highest run total since they scored 15 times against Baltimore on Sept. 30.
“I’m not surprised that we [reached] double digits in runs scored,” Encarnacion said through a translator.
“We have a great offence so I think it’s just normal for us.”
After a relatively quiet April on the offensive front, the Toronto bats are showing signs of life. Russell Martin continued to swing a hot bat with a pair of hits while Kevin Pillar had a three-hit evening.
The Rangers scratched out a run in the top of the first inning against Jays’ starter J.A. Happ, who turned in his eighth-straight quality start dating back to last season.
Happ (4-0) pitched seven innings and gave up six hits, one earned run, and a walk while striking out five.
“It’s the Rangers over there and they can put up the same numbers that we did,” he noted. “They’re very capable.
“So I did try to keep the same edge and be aggressive and attack and get strike one,” Happ added.
“I was able to do that for the most part.”
Toronto sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom half of the first inning as Holland (3-2) loaded the bases before recording an out.
Encarnacion drove a pitch into the right-centre field gap to bring three runs home.
In the third, Troy Tulowitzki, Darwin Barney, and Ezequiel Carrera all singled before Pillar drove in two runs with a double.
Donaldson was intentionally walked and Bautista grounded into a force-out to push another run across.
Encarnacion then turned on the first pitch he saw to end Holland’s night.
It was Encarnacion’s 202nd home run as a Blue Jay—moving him into a tie with George Bell for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time list.
Carlos Delgado is Toronto’s all-time home run leader with 336.
Holland allowed 11 hits, 11 earned runs, and walked three batters over 2 2/3 innings.
His earned-run average ballooned to 5.40 from 2.48.
“Missed spots, missed locations, all in all just a terrible performance by myself,” he said.
Relievers Chad Girodo and Ryan Tepera each worked an inning for the Jays.
Cesar Ramos pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Texas.
The Rangers (15-14) now have lost four of five overall and seven of their last eight road games. Announced attendance was 35,468 and the game took two hours 33 minutes to play.
Elsewhere in the AL, Baltimore nipped New York 1-0 (10 innings), Boston beat Chicago 7-3, Cleveland downed Detroit 9-4, and Seattle doubled Houston 6-3.
Over in the NL, Chicago beat Washington 5-2, St. Louis blanked Philadelphia 4-0, Miami whitewashed Arizona 4-0, Cincinnati topped Milwaukee 9-5, San Diego downed New York 5-3, and Colorado routed San Francisco 17-7.
