Encarnacion homers twice as Blue Jays beat Orioles 11-6

Edwin Encarnacion belted two homers and Michael Saunders added a solo shot as the Toronto Blue Jays outslugged the Baltimore Orioles 11-6 on Saturday afternoon.

Encarnacion hit a three-run homer in Toronto's five-run sixth inning and added a solo shot in the eighth. Saunders also went deep off reliever Brian Duensing in the eighth as the Blue Jays hit back-to-back homers for the third time this season.

Encarnacion, who delivered a walkoff win on Friday with a 10th-inning solo homer, also had a double and two walks.

Toronto starter J.A. Happ gave up homers to Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Joey Rickard but still pitched seven innings for the win. Davis and Rickard homered in the Orioles' three-run fourth inning and Machado hit a solo shot in the sixth.

Happ (7-3) allowed four earned runs and nine hits. He had five strikeouts and didn't walk a batter.

Starter Mike Wright worked five innings plus a batter for Baltimore (36-25), giving up four earned runs, six hits and five walks while striking out three.

The Blue Jays outhit the Orioles 13-12. Toronto (34-30) will try to win the four-game series Sunday afternoon.

Both teams showed some impressive defence in the early going on a warm, sunny day at Rogers Centre.

Blue Jays second baseman Darwin Barney made an Alomar-esque spear on a hot shot from Machado to start a 4-6-3 double play in the first inning. Orioles third baseman Paul Janish answered in the bottom half by snaring a ball off the bat of Josh Donaldson and throwing out the reigning American League MVP.

Baltimore centre-fielder Adam Jones ended the inning by making a nice jumping catch against the wall on a towering blast by Saunders.

Jones was sent to the warning track again in the second inning, but this time couldn't squeeze the ball. Ryan Goins was given a triple on the play and Justin Smoak came across with the game's first run.

Toronto plated two more runs in the third. Encarnacion drove in Ezequiel Carrera with a double and Donaldson scored on a sacrifice fly by Saunders.

Happ worked three scoreless frames before Rickard hit a solo shot that barely cleared the wall in left field. It was his fifth homer of the season.

Machado followed with a double and came home on a Davis homer that curled inside the foul screen in right field. It was his 15th homer and the first extra-base hit from a left-handed hitter off Happ this season.

Machado led off the sixth inning with his 16th homer of the year.

Kevin Pillar led off the bottom of the frame with a single before reliever T.J. McFarland (1-2) came on and gave up a single to Barney that put runners on the corners. Pinch-hitter Devon Travis brought Pillar home with a sacrifice fly.

Pinch-hitter Russell Martin and Carrera drew walks to load the bases for Donaldson, who hit a sacrifice fly to centre field that was enough to bring Barney home with the go-ahead run. Encarnacion then turned on a 1-0 pitch for a no-doubt shot that landed in the second deck of left-field seats.

Toronto tacked on a run in the seventh as Pillar came home on a Martin sacrifice fly. The Orioles loaded the bases on reliever Joe Biagini and Mark Trumbo delivered a single that scored Rickard.

Veteran right-hander Gavin Floyd came on with the bases still loaded and nobody out. Jonathan Schoop hit a sacrifice fly that scored Machado and pinch-hitter Hyun Soo Kim drew a walk before Francisco Pena grounded into a double play.

Encarnacion's RBI total rose to 53 on the season with his 15th home run. Saunders has 11 homers on the campaign.

The game took three hours five minutes to play and announced attendance was 47,651.

Notes: Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista sat out his second straight game with a sore thigh. Carrera replaced him in right field and in the leadoff spot. ... Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Prospect Anthony Alford suffered a concussion in a game Friday night. The outfielder with the class-A Dunedin Blue Jays collided with teammate Richard Urena. Alford had to be removed from the field on a stretcher. ... Right-hander Aaron Sanchez (5-1, 2.91 earned-run average) is scheduled to start the series finale against Baltimore righty Ubaldo Jimenez (3-6, 6.21).