Hand won’t sideline Edwin

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If it had been a weekend game in July instead of Game 2 of the ALCS on Saturday, Edwin Encarnacion would not have been in the Blue Jays’ lineup due to a left hand problem.

However, with the Blue Jays already down 10 in the bestofseven affair at Kauffman Stadium, manager John Gibbons stayed with the designated hitter.

“He is a huge part of our lineup,’’ Gibbons said of the righthanded hitter who was hitting .286 (6for21) with a homer and three RBIs in six postseason games going into Saturday. “If it was a normal game he wouldn’t be in there but we need him and he will battle through it. He got an MRI [Saturday] so the doctors could clear it, and they say, ‘Deal with the pain.’ ’’

Encarnacion left Friday night’s Game 1 for pinchhitter Justin Smoak in the eighth inning. According to Gibbons, Encarnacion has been dealing with the problem for a while.

Gibbons wanted to get Chris Colabello’s bat into the lineup for Game 1 and started the righthanded hitter at first base. He could have used Colabello’s bat in Game 2 against another righthander — Yordano Ventura — as the DH but opted with Encarnacion, who hit 31 homers and drove in 111 runs during in the regular season.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez battled a stomach virus, took a hard foul ball off the mask and was hit by a pitch in the left arm during the ALDS against the Rangers.

So, in Game 1 of the ALCS Friday nigh,t Perez got hit on the left hand by Josh Donaldson’s back swing in the eighth inning of a 50 Royals victory. Of course, he stayed in the game.

“The toughest guy I ever saw was Jason Kendall and Sal is right up there,’’ Royals manager Ned Yost said of tough catchers. “It’s just amazing the beating he can take and rebound every day.’’

Perez homered in the fourth inning of Game 1, which marked his third home run of the postseason.