TORONTO – Edwin Encarnacion slammed a three-run homer in the 11th inning to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night in a drama-filled American League wild-card game.

Devon Travis singled with one out off Ubaldo Jimenez, a starter who was Baltimore’s seventh pitcher on the night, and moved to third on Josh Donaldson’s single.

Then Encarnacion went to work, depositing the ball over the left-field fence.

The Jays dugout emptied, sending a jubilant mass of Toronto players onto the field. The capacity crowd chanted “Eddie, Eddie.”

Toronto now faces Texas, the top seed in the American League, on Thursday in Arlington to open the five-game AL Division Series.

Both bullpens put on a show, putting up one zero after another.

Then, in extra innings, the managers turned to starters with Francisco Liriano and Jimenez.

By then, the sellout crowd of 49,934 was living and dying with every called strike and ball.

(The Canadian Press)