Blue Jays 9, Braves 1
ATLANTA -- The Toronto Blue Jays offense got cranked back up Wednesday night in support of David Price and in the process added to the miseries of Atlanta's Shelby Miller.
First baseman Edwin Encarnacion was 3-for-3 with two walks and Price improved to 7-1 since his trade from Detroit to Toronto with a 9-1 interleague victory over the Braves.
Catcher Russell Martin hit his 20th homer of the season with a runner on in the ninth inning to finish with four RBIs and the Blue Jays (83-62) maintained their three-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East.
Price, who is 16-5 with a 2.42 ERA overall, struck out nine over seven innings and the only run he gave up came in the first. The left-hander allowed six hits and walked three, departing after 105 pitches.
Miller (5-15) didn't make it out of the fourth inning in losing his 14th straight decision. The right-hander, who was picked for the All-Star Game, has gone 22 starts without a victory, extending his Braves record.
Encarnacion, who had missed the previous two games with a sore left middle finger, has reached base safely in 43 consecutive games since July 21 and is batting .365 (57-for-156) over that stretch.
Catcher Christian Bethancourt was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk for the Braves (57-89), who had snapped a 12-game home losing streak with a victory in the series opener Tuesday.
Miller gave up five runs (four earned) and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings before being pulled after 83 pitches. He committed a balk, walked two batters and struck out three in his shortest outing of the season.
After scoring just two runs in their previous two games, the Blue Jays doubled that total in the first inning with four hits and the first of Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons' two errors in the game.
Martin followed an RBI double by right fielder Jose Bautista with a two-bagger that scored two runs before shortstop Ryan Goins added a sacrifice fly.
The Braves scored quickly in the bottom of the inning, swinging three straight times on first pitches by Price. Right fielder Nick Markakis led off with a double, moved up on a groundout and scored on first baseman Freddie Freeman's sacrifice fly.
The Blue Jays got the run back in the fourth, though, while chasing Miller. They added two runs in the fifth against reliever Sugar Ray Marimon for a 7-1 lead.
Toronto left fielder Ben Revere had a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI double in the fifth.
NOTES: Blue Jays 1B Edwin Encarnacion returned to the cleanup spot in the lineup after missing two games because of a sore middle finger on his left hand. ... RHP LaTroy Hawkins is dealing with a tight forearm and hasn't made a relief appearance for Toronto since Friday. ... Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Braves coupled with Sunday's 5-0 defeat against the Yankees in New York was the first time since Aug. 14-15 that the Blue Jays lost consecutive games. ... With the walk-off victory, the Braves won for the 16th consecutive time in a one-run game at Turner Field. The last one-run home defeat was 13-12 to Washington on April 28. ...The three-game interleague series ends Thursday, with RHP Marco Estrada (12-8, 3.31 ERA) starting for the Blue Jays against Atlanta RHP Matt Wisler (5-7, 5.60 ERA).