TORONTO — Edwin Encarnacion hammered the 91 mph fastball, raised his arms and dropped his bat.
His teammates loved every moment of it, welcoming him at home plate then dousing him with bottle after bottle of champagne. Thanks to Encarnacion’s 443-foot homer, the Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles in the American League wild-card game and advanced to the ALDS.
For the rest of the Blue Jays, the home run meant “jubilation,” “euphoria” and “elation.” Here are their reactions to Encarnacion’s walk-off shot…
“It was complete jubilation, man. It’s a good feeling. I think everybody felt the same way. The place erupted. Just that slow anticipation, that slow build, it looked like it was set up to happen. You give these (Blue Jays hitters) too many chances we’ve got a powerful lineup just like (the Orioles) do. It’s a pretty equal matchup. Luckily we came out on top. A one-game series it’s always tough. You could flip a coin, really.”
“Just euphoria. You’re caught up in the moment. You’re hoping against hope. The game was so weird. I knew it was gone as soon as he hit it, which is great because it gave us a lot of time to get out there and celebrate.”
First base coach Tim Leiper
“I was just numb. You knew he hit it. It was so fitting. When he was up in that situation, I was actually surprised they pitched to him, but as soon as he hit it you knew. What we’ve done here the last few years we’ve had some great storybook endings.”
“Similar to the seventh inning in last year’s Game 5. The same kind of swing. I know it wasn’t a walk-off last year, but it’s pretty much the same feeling except this time we’re going to Texas. It’s unbelievable.”
“It happened so fast, man. Honestly I just started running to home plate. Somebody said it went in the second deck. I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t even see it land. Right there at that point you’re fired up, you know you won the game and like Eddie does he came through for us big right there.”
John Gibbons
“He’s one of the elite hitters. He’s done that many times for us.”
“Oh my gosh. Leading up to it I was thinking ‘this guy’s a home run hitter, he’s probably going to hit it pretty deep. As soon as he got up I had a feeling like we were going to win. I was on the top step (of the dugout) and I was right by the cooler. As soon as he hit it, I was like ‘oh my god!’ I tried to jump over the cooler, I tripped, it didn’t matter though. It was kind of like the same reaction as when Jose hit his home run (in the 2015 ALDS). That emotion, extra innings, neck and neck. I was getting nervous in the dugout because you feel like a fan when you’re not playing. Man I’m just so happy he came through. It was awesome.”
“Great job on his part. He got a good pitch to hit and didn’t miss it. He gave us the win and I’m just excited … I was looking at the ball, looking at the trajectory and looking at all of the fans celebrating.”
“I didn’t want that thing to ever land, but I was making sure to tag up just in case. I did have to remind myself halfway through, ‘you’ve still got to touch home, bro.’”
“Elation. It’s hard to explain, man. It’s similar to the feeling you got when Bautista hit that homer in Game 5 last year. Chills going through your whole body and then running onto the field and kind of blacking out, realizing that all the hard work paid off and we’re going to the next round.”
