Encarnacion lifts Blue Jays over Giants

Baseball Betting Lines

06/18/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edwin Encarnacion blasted the game-winning home run leading off the bottom of the eighth inning to push Toronto past San Francisco, 3-2, in the opener of a three-game interleague set at Rogers Centre.

Encarnacion had two of Toronto's four hits and drove in all three runs, as the Blue Jays won their second straight after dropping seven out of nine. Eight of Encarnacion's last 16 hits have been home runs since he came off the disabled list May 18.

Scott Downs (2-5) earned the win after tossing a perfect eighth inning for Toronto, which won for just a third time in 10 all-time meetings with San Francisco. Kevin Gregg retired all three hitters he faced, with a little help from Encarnacion, who made a diving stop of a sharply hit Buster Posey ground ball to end the game, to nail down his 17th save.

Barry Zito (7-3) went the distance and was the hard-luck loser after issuing one walk and fanning five as the Giants fell for only a second time in their last seven games.

Zito had retired the Blue Jays in order in the sixth and seventh innings before Encarnacion belted his first pitch of the eighth into left field for his ninth home run of the season and first since June 4.

The Giants mustered the first run of the game in the first inning when Pablo Sandoval walked with two outs and the bases loaded. Brandon Morrow avoided further trouble when Alex Gonzalez made a sliding grab of a Posey grounder and turned it into a force at second base.

Zito kept the Jays hitless through four innings before Gonzalez led off the fifth with an infield single and Jose Bautista was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. Bautista then beat Sandoval's throw to second base on a Lyle Overbay ground ball to load the bases for Encarnacion, who looped a broken bat, two-run single to left to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

The southpaw was able to work out of further trouble when Jose Molina bunted into a force at third and Fred Lewis bounced into an inning-ending double play.

Aubrey Huff opened the sixth with a double but was thrown out trying to score on a Pat Burrell single. Juan Uribe, who had been hit by a pitch, advanced to third base on the play and came into score the tying run on Sandoval's groundout.

Morrow was not involved in the decision in his first career meeting with the Giants after yielding a pair of runs on five hits over six frames. He walked three and fanned four and was followed by Jason Frasor, who struck out the side in order in the seventh.

Game Notes

Zito fell to 5-3 in 11 career starts against Toronto as he faced the Blue Jays for the first time since July 29, 2006 as a member of the Athletics...He has allowed seven home runs over his last seven starts after not giving up a long ball in his first seven turns...It was the first complete game of the year for Zito and the 11th of his career. The Blue Jays have outhomered their opponents at home 42-7 since April 29...Encarnacion had been mired in a 2-for-26 slump entering the game...Bautista was 0-for-2 and is just 2 for his last 31...Toronto has slugged a major league-leading 104 homers...The Giants are winless in four interleague road games this season and 5-5 in interleague action overall, while the Jays are 4-6 in interleague play this year...San Francisco is 4-22 when scoring fewer than four runs.

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