Encarnacion, Indians hand Blue Jays another ugly loss

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, left, takes the ball from starting pitcher Marco Estrada during the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians. (Tony Dejak/AP)

CLEVELAND — Of course it was Edwin Encarnacion. Of course.

It was the fifth inning Friday night at Progressive Field, and Toronto Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada was trying to punch his way off the ropes. Through four innings he’d looked like his old self, allowing only a run on three hits and a walk as he tried to put his recent struggles behind him.

Perhaps you’d heard that Estrada had a salty 5.33 ERA coming into the night; that he’d walked 23 batters over his last 23.1 innings; that he hadn’t gotten through five innings in six of his last eight. Estrada knew that, too, but he looked to be coming around. Until he wasn’t.

"I felt great out there the first few innings. I was even excited about it because I felt like my pitches were much better than what they have been," Estrada said. "But, fifth inning came along and, I don’t know. I just got tired, couldn’t get the ball down, couldn’t locate any more — and it all fell apart. Plain and simple."

That fifth inning began with a loud Abraham Almonte triple off the left-centre field wall — a scorched 2-0 fastball that Blue Jays centre fielder Kevin Pillar came within inches of making an unbelievable play on. Then there was a walk, and a single behind it to score Almonte. And, after a buoying called strikeout for Estrada’s first out of the inning, another walk to load the bases.

A run came in on a fielder’s choice, giving Estrada a second out while tying the game in the process. But Estrada had looked so good through four innings that Blue Jays manager John Gibbons gave his starter one more batter to try and get out of it — to try and punch his way off the ropes. That batter: Edwin Encarnacion.

Some coloured history there between Encarnacion and the Blue Jays. No need to recount it now. But if you are at all familiar with the last eight months or so of this franchise, and had seen Encarnacion already go deep and walk in his first two plate appearances, you probably saw what happened next and said to yourself: Of course.

Encarnacion worked a full count, fouled off what would have been ball four, and then put a great swing on a decent pitch, a 76-mph change-up that ran right on the outside black. It was Estrada’s 95th pitch of the night and, as it turned out, his last.

Encarnacion drove that thing directly into the left-centre field gap, where it rolled all the way to the wall as two runs came in to score. That put Cleveland up 5-3, in what would eventually become an ugly 13-3 Blue Jays loss.

"The changeup was still up, which makes it a little easier," Estrada said of his final pitch. "I gave the hitter a chance. If it would’ve been down, he probably rolls it over. He was still out in front — he just placed it in a good place."

Encarnacion’s double drove Estrada from the game, and turned what could have been an encouraging outing into another disappointing one. Estrada failed to complete five innings again. He allowed more than four earned runs for the fifth time in his last nine starts. And he raised his ERA — it’s now 5.52.

That’s the kind of season it’s been for Estrada, who was once an absolute cornerstone of Toronto’s rotation; as good a bet as the Blue Jays had for an excellent outing every five days.

Less than two months ago, he was still that guy, as he started the season with a 3.15 ERA over his first 11 starts. But things have gone awfully awry since. And even on nights like Friday, when he had good stuff, as evidenced by the five pop ups he induced through those strong first four innings, Estrada just can’t seem to figure it out.

"The first few innings, I was focused, locked in, making really good pitches," Estrada said. "And then it all just kind of fell apart.

"I shouldn’t be getting tired by the fifth inning," he continued. "But I tried so hard today, maybe that’s what it was. I overdid it and just kind of ran out of gas early on. But I’m only trying because I want to do well for the team, for the city, for everybody. I did see a lot of positives today."

It all started so well, as Estrada cruised — outside of Encarnacion’s solo shot in the second — and the Blue Jays went ahead early.

Toronto plated a run in the first, as Jose Bautista led off with a double, stole third, and scored on Kendrys Morales’ two-out, two-strike single back up the middle. And another came in the second, when Ezequiel Carrera led off with another double, advanced on a groundball, and scored on Ryan Goins’ sacrifice fly.

Justin Smoak drove in a third run in the fifth, sending a two-out, full-count fastball from Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer off the wall in left-centre, scoring Josh Donaldson all the way from first.

But things turned in the bottom of that inning, as Estrada spiraled, and Encarnacion did what he does. And then the Blue Jays did what they do, which lately has been giving up a whole bunch of runs.

Cleveland brought 13 batters to the plate in a ridiculous seventh inning, teeing off on relievers Jeff Beliveau and Cesar Valdez and scoring a touchdown plus the two-point conversion before Toronto could record a third out.

"Our bullpen’s beat to hell," Gibbons said. "Certain guys needed to pitch tonight, certain guys couldn’t. You’re hoping for a big out, maybe roll a groundball somehow, get a big strikeout. But that didn’t happen. And then the floodgates opened."

It was the 12th time this season — and the fifth time in the last 16 games — Toronto’s allowed its opponent to score 10 runs or more. It dropped the Blue Jays’ run differential on the year to -82, the worst mark in the American League. It was, like so many games this team has played of late, ugly.

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