Encarnacion's walk-off HR leads Blue Jays over Orioles

Mired in a long skid at the plate, Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion was due to break out of his slump on Friday night.

His first hit in 20 at-bats gave Toronto a walk off victory.

Encarnacion worked a full count off reliever Brad Brach before belting a leadoff homer in the 10th inning to give the Blue Jays a 4-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

"They had been throwing outside to me all day so I just tried to make an adjustment and it worked," he said through a translator.

The opposite-field shot gave him 13 homers on the season and made him the eighth player in Blue Jays history with 600 career RBIs.

"He's a feared guy," said Toronto manager John Gibbons.

It was Encarnacion's fifth career walk off homer and first game-ender of the season. Brach (5-1) suffered his first loss since Sept. 28, 2015, also against Toronto.

"It was a good pitch by a good pitcher and hit by a good hitter, that's why they call it the big leagues," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

Drew Storen (1-2) worked the top half of the frame for the win. Jesse Chavez and Roberto Osuna also provided shutout relief after starter Marco Estrada's solid six-inning effort.

The Blue Jays outhit the Orioles 10-4 in front of an announced crowd of 44,439. Encarnacion has driven in 48 runs on the season.

"To go [opposite-field] like that, I mean everybody has seen his power to the pull side, but to be able to just smash one and on a line, it was pretty fun to watch," Storen said.

Estrada started strong

Toronto scratched out a run in the first inning and Michael Saunders hit a solo shot in the fourth while Estrada cruised through the first few frames.

The right-hander retired the first 10 batters he faced before issuing a walk to Hyun Soo Kim in the fourth. Baltimore's first hit came an inning later as Jonathan Schoop hit a solo homer, his ninth blast of the year.

Slugger Chris Davis put Baltimore ahead in the sixth inning with a two-run shot. His 14th homer of the year came after Manny Machado reached on a walk.

The Blue Jays tied the game in the bottom half of the frame. Justin Smoak hit a double and scored on a Russell Martin single.

Estrada had eight strikeouts, allowing four hits, four walks and three earned runs. He has held opponents to five hits or fewer in a franchise record nine consecutive starts (minimum five IP per start).

"I felt really good. I made two mistakes and it cost me," Estrada said. "These walks, they're haunting me. I'm walking a lot of people. I was around the zone today and I feel like some pitches could have gone either way and it might have changed the game a little bit.

"But it's a tough lineup. It's a really tough lineup."

Orioles starter Kevin Gausman, meanwhile, allowed eight hits, two earned runs and a pair of walks while striking out four. Baltimore (36-24) is now just one game up on second-place Boston in the American League East standings.

The Red Sox dumped the Minnesota Twins 8-1. Toronto (33-30) is 4 1/2 games behind the Orioles.

"We didn't do a whole lot other than a couple home runs," Showalter said. "We'll sleep fast and do it again tomorrow."