He likened it to 2005 when he was with a Chicago White Sox team that won the World Series.
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Encarnacion made it 9-3 with a three-run drive off reliever J.R. Graham in the fourth, his 20th.
With an uncanny combination of power and speed, the Toronto Blue Jays finished off a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins and are streaking into Yankee Stadium as the hottest team in baseball. “He couldn’t get anything down”, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. This will be the most important series so far this season for both teams, as there could be a huge momentum shift in the AL East depending on the outcome.
New York has also had a tough time with Dickey in the past, as the knuckleballer has a 1.12 ERA in his last 6 starts against the Yankees. Toronto leads the majors with 587 runs.
The six runs equaled the total Greinke gave up in his previous nine starts combined. Liam Hendriks, Brett Cecil and Mark Lowe pitched a scoreless inning of relief each before LaTroy Hawkins came in to earn his first save with Toronto.
Greinke’s ERA rose from 1.41 to 1.71. Encarnacion credits a combination of the rest, a shorter swing, and a rejuvenated lineup with his impressive numbers over the past few weeks. 170 to.220.
The slam gave Toronto its 38th four-run inning of the season, more than any other team. But he had four effortless 1-2-3 innings, too.
The Cardinals improved to 30 games over. 500 for the season at 54-54 with three games left in Cleveland on their seven-game trip. However, those trades wouldn’t have been such a big deal if they didn’t already have a trove of good players on their roster. The Reds were shut out for the last 18 innings.
The newly acquired Blue Jays shortstop thinks that he and Donaldson are alike on the field, even if they have different temperaments in the clubhouse. There was a long delay after the sixth inning to spread a drying compound around the infield. It wasn’t easy: Eduardo Escobar and pinch-hitter Eduardo Nunez led off the inning with singles, and moved into scoring position on a Shane Robinson sacrifice bunt.
Hicks hit an RBI double to left field to make it 9-5. “To me, that’s why I play this game and I want to be on a team where that’s the way everyone plays this game because it’s all about winning”.
The Blue Jays arranged their rotation to make sure Price starts four of those games.
Nationals 8, Diamondbacks 3 – Ian Desmond broke out of a prolonged slump with a home run and Bryce Harper reached base five times to help Washington beat Arizona at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Toronto’s last 12 games at home.
After Bautista made it 5-2 with an RBI double in the fifth, Minnesota intentionally walked Encarnacion to load the bases with one out. 400 with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs. The rookie allowed five hits and struck out seven without walking a batter. They are only a half-game behind the Los Angeles Angels in the pursuit of the American League’s first wild-card berth.
Toronto and New York begin a key three-game series Friday in New York.
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Toronto leads the majors in runs scored (by a big margin), and the Yankees are second (with a significant gap between them and the third-place Astros).
