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Toronto Blue Jays’ Edwin Encarnacion, right, rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run off Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Alfredo Simon in the first inning of Toronto's 9-2 victory.Chris Young/The Canadian Press

Mark Buehrle wasn't shy about saying he didn't have his best stuff on Sunday. Yet the pitcher stood in the clubhouse afterward with a smile and a grind-it-out victory after six-plus innings, behind a Toronto Blue Jays team providing great defence and remarkable run support.

The Blue Jays completed a sweep of the lowly Detroit Tigers with a 9-2 victory behind big bats, including four home runs – with one from Edwin Encarnacion, which stretched the best hitting streak in the majors to 25 games.

Toronto, 74-56, has won 24 of its past 29 games and remains atop the American League East in a fierce chase of its first playoff spot since 1993. With 32 regular-season games remaining, Toronto is still ahead of the New York Yankees, 72-57, who pounded the Atlanta Braves 20-6 on Sunday, also completing a dominant sweep.

Josh Donaldson, Kevin Pillar, Russell Martin and Encarnacion all had homers for Toronto. Encarnacion's came in his first at-bat, a day after he cracked three homers and brought in nine of Toronto's 15 runs to tie a franchise best for runs batted in in a single game and bring hats raining down from the Rogers Centre stands.

Encarnacion has 35 RBIs in August, a club record for a single month. He has tied Scott Rolen (2009) for the fourth-longest hitting streak in Jays' history and is narrowing in on the club record, a 28-game hitting streak set by Shawn Green in 1999.

Encarnacion was 2-for-3 on Sunday, also adding a single. When he came to the plate in the fifth inning, Detroit starter Alfredo Simon just floated an easy pitch right at the intimidating cleanup man and let him walk to first.

Even beyond the parade of long balls, the day just kept providing rousing feel-good moments in a stadium that had for years been usually half-empty and quiet. There was Ryan Goins's leaping catch on an Anthony Gose shot up the middle and Troy Tulowitzki's beautifully placed double over the head of right fielder J.D. Martinez. There was Pillar's dazzling catch in centre field and Goins's eighth-inning double to the wall that brought two more runners scampering home.

"[Our confidence], it's about as high as it can get," Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Our offence is on fire, our pitching has been good, and our defence has been great. With things come together and you feel like you're good and you can win – that's the roll we're on right now. It's all come together at this point."

There was also the steady Buehrle, keeping the Tigers off the board until the sixth inning. He allowed five hits and two runs and left early in the seventh. Mark Lowe, Aaron Sanchez and Bo Schultz combined to finish the game.

"It's getting to that time of year and I'm battling in every start I go out there," Buehrle said. "You have good days and bad days and I'm more on the bad side than the good side, but I still went out there and tried to give us a chance to win. When these guys are scoring that many runs it makes it a lot easier."

Gibbons shuffled the batting order Sunday, but said the move may just be temporary. He moved Ben Revere into the leadoff spot and bumped Tulowitzki down to fifth, saying he was trying to give Tulowitzki a breather and spark his bat. Revere, who was riding a mini hot streak going into Sunday, went hitless in four at-bats, while Tulowitzki was 1-for-4.

As Jays fever grips the country, Canada Baseball Day was celebrated at the Rogers Centre. The team emerged in red and white uniforms and 20,000 fans received red replica jerseys after standing outside for hours before the game in lively lineups that sprawled for blocks.

The Jays play host in a three-game series with the Indians starting Monday, and then the Orioles come to town on Friday.

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ON DECK

The homestand continues for the Toronto Blue Jays, who welcome the Cleveland Indians to Rogers Centre on Monday night for the first of a three-game series. And if the Blue Jays want to get off on the right foot, they've got the right man on the mound in David Price. The lefty has been everything the Blue Jays anticipated when they obtained him before the July 31 trade deadline from the Detroit Tigers. Price is 4-0 in his five starts for Toronto with a 1.98 earned-run average and 41 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings. His Jays record probably would be 5-0 were it not for a three-run home run reliever Aaron Sanchez served up to Carlos Beltran back on Aug. 14, which provided the Yankees with a 4-3 win. The Indians will counter with Danny Salazar, who might not be at peak efficiency. Salazar lost about five pounds last week battling a virus, which caused him to miss his scheduled start Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels. It has been a long year for the Indians, who some felt were playoff material heading into the season. But Cleveland lost 23 of its first 37 games and was never to crawl out of the hole. The Indians have been playing well of late, however, completing a sweep of the fading Angels on Sunday to win their fifth in a row.

Monday, 7:07 p.m. (ET): Toronto LHP David Price (13-4, 2.42) vs. Cleveland RHP Danny Salazar (11-7, 3.30).

Tuesday, 7:07 p.m. (ET): Toronto RHP Marco Estrada (11-8, 3.19) vs. Cleveland RHP Cody Anderson (2-3, 4.30).

Wednesday, 7:07 p.m. (ET): Toronto RHP R.A. Dickey (9-10, 4.25) vs. Cleveland RHP Trevor Bauer (10-10, 4.31).

All games at Rogers Centre.

Robert MacLeod

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