NEW YORK -- On the big stage at Yankee Stadium, in the middle of a pennant race, Edwin Encarnacion ensured he stood out from the rest of the pack by becoming the first player in the Major Leagues to reach 100 RBIs.
Encarnacion went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs in Toronto's 12-6 victory on Tuesday night. A two-run shot brought his total to 99, and he later hit the 100-RBI plateau for the fourth time in his career with a fielder's choice.
The veteran slugger has been known to do this kind of thing before, but never quite this early. His career high in RBIs was 111 last year, but there's still six weeks remaining in the season and plenty of time left to do some more damage.
"It's something I always try to do every year," Encarnacion said. "Thirty homers and 100 RBIs. Thank God for helping me to get to those numbers and we still have one month and two weeks left. So, I'm happy."

Encarnacion's two-run shot in the eighth tied the game at 6 and also tied him with Baltimore's Mark Trumbo for the Major League lead in home runs with 34. It was his third game-tying or go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later this season.
Toronto trailed 6-0 after five innings in Tuesday's game but came roaring back late. Encarnacion tallied three RBIs as part of the eight-run eighth inning that helped the Blue Jays regain sole possession of first place in the American League East.
According to Statcast™, Encarnacion's shot off Yankees reliever Adam Warren was projected to travel 419 feet and left his bat at 104 mph. It came on a slider, and Encarnacion said he knew it was coming.
"They've been throwing me a lot of breaking pitches, so in that situation I knew they weren't going to throw a fastball," Encarnacion said.