TORONTO — Ten years ago today, Edwin Encarnacion delivered the defining swing of the Toronto Blue Jays' postseason, hitting a dramatic one-out, three-run home run in the 11th inning to seal a thrilling 5-2 walk-off victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Toronto in the American League Wild Card Game.
The decisive inning turned on a widely debated bullpen decision. With Baltimore's best reliever Zach Britton sitting unused in the bullpen, manager Buck Showalter brought in Ubaldo Jimenez to start the 11th. With one out, Devon Travis and Josh Donaldson singled to put two on, but Showalter left Jimenez in to face Encarnacion, who ended it with the walk-off homer.
Offense had been scarce before the extra innings. Jose Bautista gave Toronto the early lead with a solo home run in the second, and Ezequiel Carrera made it 2-1 with an RBI single in the fifth that scored Michael Saunders. Marcus Stroman pitched six strong innings for Toronto, his only damage a two-run homer allowed to Mark Trumbo. Toronto grounded into three double plays despite putting only seven runners on base, including a costly 5-4-3 double play in the ninth when Russell Martin grounded out with Josh Donaldson — who had led off with a double — and Encarnacion — on after an intentional walk — aboard and one out after Bautista struck out on a check swing. The bullpen of Brett Cecil, Joe Biagini, Jason Grilli, Roberto Osuna and Francisco Liriano combined for five scoreless innings.
Encarnacion left as a free agent after the season with 239 regular-season home runs, third in Blue Jays history, and four postseason homers for Toronto. He went on to play for Cleveland, the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox, hitting .241/.344/.489 with 114 home runs over the next four seasons before a tough final year in which he hit .157/.250/.377 with 10 homers for the White Sox. Toronto swept the Texas Rangers in three games in the ALDS before falling to Cleveland in five games in the ALCS, a series dominated by pitching as Cleveland hit .168/.215/.329 and Toronto hit .201/.251/.283.