Revel in Edwin's unforgettable '16 walk-off

April 5th, 2020

TORONTO -- Blue Jays fans had an opportunity to relive one of the club’s most electrifying tilts in recent memory as the 2016 American League Wild Card win over the Orioles was streamed across MLB's social platforms Saturday night.

Edwin Encarnación’s walk-off blast -- and all of the drama that unfolded before it -- was streamed on Facebook (both MLB and Las Mayores' pages), Twitter (MLB and Las Mayores) and MLB's YouTube channel.

This game checked off all of the boxes for a Toronto October classic. It had a José Bautista home run -- a towering shot to left in the second -- a diving catch by Kevin Pillar in center field and a clutch performance from Marcus Stroman on the mound.

Stroman, never one to shy away from big moments and raucous crowds, said after the game that he fed off the energy of the 49,943 Blue Jays fans who packed Rogers Centre.

"From the second I walked out of the dugout, I got chills from the entire crowd just standing up and cheering," Stroman said. "This crowd is unbelievable, the fans are unbelievable. They bring a ton of passion and I love it, because that's everything I need and kind of everything I work off of."

Pillar did it with the bat, too. With Toronto down 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth with a runner on second base, Pillar got pitch up at the eyeballs from Baltimore starter Chris Tillman. That didn’t matter, as Pillar flashed his excellent hand-eye coordination and slapped a double into the right-field corner. The next batter, Ezequiel Carrera, brought home the tying run with a bloop single.

That set the stage for Encarnación.

With Orioles closer Zach Britton looking on from the bullpen in the bottom of the 11th after a 47-save season in which he posted an incredible 0.54 ERA, Encarnación instead faced Ubaldo Jiménez and got a 91 mph pitch over the heart of the plate.

The three-run homer stands as one of the great moments of this generation of Blue Jays baseball. Bautista’s bat flip might have the edge, but if Encarnación ever gets a statue outside Rogers Centre, the image of him standing over home plate, arms raised to the sky immediately after hitting this home run, would be a perfect fit.

"I was looking for a fastball, and I was trying to put a barrel on it," Encarnación said after the game. "A little bit in front of it because the infield was playing in, and I actually got it. ... I was really happy, mostly because it was an extra-inning game. It was just a very special moment for us."

The win pushed the Blue Jays through to the 2016 AL Division Series, where they faced the rival Texas Rangers for the second consecutive postseason before falling in the Championship Series to the Indians.