• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Encarnacion leads Jays' drubbing of Rangers

Jun 27, 2015 - 5:12 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Edwin Encarnacion collected five RBI on a pair of home runs, including a grand slam that powered the Toronto Blue Jays to a 12-2 rout of the slumping Texas Rangers.

Encarnacion finished 3-for-5 to back another solid performance from Mark Buehrle that helped extend the Rangers' season-long losing streak to six games.

"Every time he steps in the box, he's got a chance to go deep," Toronto manager John Gibbons said.

Buehrle (8-4) held Texas to two runs and five hits over seven innings, the crafty veteran's fifth straight quality start.

Russell Martin and Danny Valencia also homered for Toronto, with the latter's coming when Texas inserted infielder Adam Rosales to pitch the eighth inning. Josh Donaldson and Kevin Pillar each recorded two hits and an RBI in the lopsided win.

The Blue Jays put up 13 hits in all and battered Nick Martinez (5-4) for nine runs -- eight earned -- over the first six innings.

Prince Fielder went 2-for-4 with a solo homer to pace the Rangers.

Spotted with a 1-0 lead courtesy of Fielder's 300th career homer, Martinez quickly put himself in trouble in the bottom of the first inning. Walks to Jose Reyes and Jose Bautista around a Donaldson single loaded the bases with none out, and Encarnacion cleared them by hammering a curve ball over the center-field wall.

Fielder and his father, Cecil, joined Bobby and Barry Bonds as the only father/son duos in major league history to have 300 home runs each

"That's pretty good company," Fielder said.

Texas got a run back in the second when Elvis Andrus walked, took third on a Rougned Odor double and came home on Leonys Martin's groundout. Buehrle ceded little from then on, though, and the Blue Jays scored twice more in their half of the inning before piling on later.

Pillar opened the bottom of the second with a double and beat Odor's throw to third on a grounder from Devon Travis. The Rangers won a challenge when Reyes' infield single was reversed to an RBI groundout, but Donaldson followed with a base hit that plated Travis for a 6-2 advantage.

Martin's opposite-field homer extended the margin in the third, and Chris Colabello doubled in Bautista in the fifth to increase the lead to 8-2. Encarnacion, who singled earlier, then crossed the plate on Martin's sacrifice fly.

The Rangers never got back in it, as Buehrle permitted just a pair of singles between the third and sixth innings.

Encarnacion reached his 20th career multi-homer effort with a solo blast off Ross Detwiler in the seventh. Walks to Colabello and Martin preceded a Pillar single later in the inning that pushed the lead to 11-2.

Rosales retired three of the four hitters he faced in the eighth, with Valencia's long drive into the left-center field seats the lone exception.

Game Notes

Encarnacion's slam was the seventh of his career and first since July 26, 2013 against Houston ... Travis went 1-for-4 in his first game back from a shoulder injury that sidelined him since May 17 ... Buehrle has a 1.75 ERA over his last five starts, yielding two runs or less in each ... Pillar extended his hitting streak to 10 games ... Texas has now lost in six straight matchups against Buehrle, who improved to 14-5 lifetime against the Rangers.