NO EDWIN FOR 2 WEEKS
Jays have lost weekend
Edwin Encarnacion’s face showed signs of anguish, the result of a right quad strain that will keep him out of the All- Star game and, more importantly, out of the Toronto Blue Jays lineup for at least two weeks.
Encarnacion was on the bench Sunday when the Oakland Athletics completed a four-game sweep of the Blue Jays with a 4-2 victory. Toronto fell two games behind the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles, who edged Boston Red Sox 7-6 in 12 innings Sunday.
“It hurts us not having him on the team,” said Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, who was also chosen to the AL All- Star team, along with left-hander Mark Buehrle. “The No. 1 priority is to get him better.”
The Blue Jays managed just five hits against Jeff Samardzija, who made his Oakland debut, and closer Sean Doolittle. Without Encarnacion in the lineup, Bautista doesn’t have the same support.
Encarnacion was injured in the first inning of Saturday’s loss after he drove in a run. Bautista, nursing a hamstring injury, made a rare start at first base in Encarnacion’s place.
The Blue Jays managed four runs during the four-game series, which included a 1-0 loss in 12 innings on Friday.
“We got shut down big time,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
“We had chances, it didn’t happen. We’re just not producing.”
Stephen Vogt singled and tripled to help the A’s complete their first series sweep of the Blue Jays since taking a three-game series in 2000. Oakland hadn’t swept a four-game series from Toronto since May 2224, 1981.
Steve Tolleson hit a pinch-hit home run off Doolittle in the ninth for the Blue Jays, who have lost six straight on the road. It was his first career pinch-homer.
Toronto got a stellar outing from starter Drew Hutchison, but for the fourth straight game had little success offensively. The Blue Jays went 0 for 18 with runners in scoring position during the series.
“I thought I threw the ball well except for the two walks in the sixth,” Hutchison said. “The only pitch I’d like back is the 1-2 change that went for a double.”
LHP JA Happ (7-4) takes the hill for the Blue Jays in their series opener at the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.