Edwin Encarnacion hits a three-run home run during the seventh inning on Friday night.Nick Turchiaro
The Toronto Blue Jays shut out the Detroit Tigers 6-0 on Friday night at Rogers Centre to extend Toronto's winning streak to seven games.
Edwin Encarnacion paced the Blue Jays' offence with a three-run home run, his 23rd homer of the season, in the bottom of the seventh inning. That brought him three home runs shy of tying Vernon Wells for fourth on the team's all-time list.
"He crushed that ball today. He's been a big part of this team for a number of years," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
The Blue Jays (50-39) took the lead when they patched together a run in the bottom of the fifth after Darwin Barney led off with a double and later scored when Josh Donaldson hit into a double play. That was as exciting as it got until Toronto erupted for four runs in the seventh.
The Tigers (45-42) struggled to generate offence against Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ, who lasted 52/3 innings to earn the win. The left-hander gave up six hits and struck out nine with one walk. Happ has won six games in a row and allowed only one run in his past two starts. With the win, Happ became the sixth pitcher in franchise history to record at least 12 wins prior to the All-Star break, and the first since Roy Halladay won 12 in 2006.
"It's nice, for sure. A testament to the team and our bullpen. I feel good about how this first half has gone. I'm on a good team and that's part of the reason I came back here," said Happ, who returned to the Blue Jays in free agency after being traded away last season.
Tigers starter Mike Pelfrey took the loss. His record fell to 0-6 on the season. Pelfrey pitched six innings and gave up one earned run with three walks. The two sides resume their four-game series on Saturday at 1:07 p.m. ET.
Note: An earlier version of this story said J.A. Happ gave up six runs. This version has been corrected.