NEW YORK – Even through what is, by his standards, a relatively cold start to the season, Edwin Encarnacion is still driving in runs. With two RBI in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 3-1 victory Thursday over the New York Yankees, the veteran slugger took the team lead in that regard at 35 thanks to a two-out single in the third that turned out to be the decisive blow.
A brilliant J.A. Happ made that deuce stand up with seven outstanding innings, allowing a Starlin Castro solo shot in the first before shutting the door. The Yankees managed only two singles and three walks against him in the next six frames before Gavin Floyd and Roberto Osuna put things to bed, securing a series win in the Bronx to cap a 5-2 road trip.
Three-game series at home versus the Boston Red Sox and Yankees await.
“That was a big game, nice to get the series here,” said Happ. “We’ve got to keep grinding.”
While it’s little surprise that Encarnacion leads the Blue Jays in RBI, something strange is that he’s managed to do it despite batting only .193 (11-for-57) with runners in scoring position. Last season he was .274/.383/.585 with men in scoring position, the year before .260/.358/.567 and for his Blue Jays career, he’s .256/.359/.496.
No matter which numbers you choose to use for comparison, Encarnacion is well off his career norms.
“They’ve been throwing me a lot of pitches outside, but I still have to look for my pitch in the strike zone,” said Encarnacion. “I’ve been swinging at a lot of bad pitches, so that’s the adjustment I need to make.”
That he’s managed to remain productive in spite of his chasing – he started the day seventh in the American League in RBI – is all the more impressive because he also headed into Thursday’s play with 55 at-bats with runners in scoring position, tied for the AL lead with Carlos Correa, Travis Shaw and Jose Abreu.
But he also entered the series finale at Yankee Stadium with two hits in his last 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“Sometimes you want to do too much, that’s when you swing at a lot of pitches outside the strike zone,” said Encarnacion. “That’s why I need to make an adjustment, looking for my pitch.”
Encarnacion broke from that rut in the third, after Devon Travis reached on a one-out fielding error by Castro at shortstop, Jose Bautista singled with two outs and Josh Donaldson followed with a walk against CC Sabathia to load the bases.
Encarnacion then ripped a 1-0 sinker on a line to left that just touched green in front of Brett Gardner, putting the Blue Jays up 2-1 as Travis and Bautista came home.
Those runs, and Happ’s ability to hold the lead, were pivotal as the Blue Jays didn’t get another man to second until the eighth, when Bautista had to drop down to escape an up-and-in heater from Dellin Betances and responded with a shot through the box that he ran into a double. Donaldson struck out and Encarnacion, looking to pad the team’s lead, ended up popping up to the catcher.
The Blue Jays did manage to pick up an insurance run in the ninth, as Travis delivered the last of three opposite field singles off Aroldis Chapman to cash in Justin Smoak for a 3-1 lead.
“I told myself before that pitch, ‘OK, you’re late, try to hit it to left-centre,’ and I hit it between first and second,” Travis said of his approach. “I think for the guys who throw a little harder, you almost have to set your sights a little further to the pull side and hopefully you can hit it fair to the right side.”
That gave the Blue Jays a 2-for-6 day with runners in scoring position, pushing their average this season up to .218 (77-for-353). Last year, the Blue Jays hit .286 on that front, another disparity that you’d think will eventually correct, too.
“We’ve been missing that for a while,” said manager John Gibbons. “The name of the game is hitting with guys in scoring position and it’s not always easy, but we came through today again.”
The trick is in keeping it going, especially during the current stretch of schedule heavy on games with AL East rivals. If they’re going to break out of their funk and make a run at things, having the cold spots in their lineup reawaken now would be ideal.
“That’s why this team was so great last year, because everybody can have the hit to help the team win the game from 1-9,” said Encarnacion, before describing his season so far as, “OK, not the way it’s supposed to be right now. I just want to help this team win games, I don’t think about my numbers, I just think about the team, and I think we can be better than we are right now.”
More hitting with runners in scoring position will go a long way in fixing that.