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Major League Baseball
Toronto 9, Atlanta 1
When: 7:10 PM ET, Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Where: Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
Temperature: 75°
Umpires: Home - Quinn Wolcott, 1B - Lance Barksdale, 2B - Ryan Blakney, 3B - Gary Cederstrom
Attendance: 15178

ATLANTA -- The Blue Jays' offense got cranked back up Wednesday night in support of David Price. In the process, Toronto added to the miseries of the Atlanta Braves' Shelby Miller.

First baseman Edwin Encarnacion was 3-for-3 with two walks, and Price, staked to a quick 4-0 lead, improved to 7-1 since his trade from Detroit to Toronto, leading the Blue Jays to a 9-1 interleague victory over the Braves.

"To get four runs before you take the mound is always big," Price said. "This offense scores. Everybody knows that. It's the best offense in all of baseball. I'll take as many runs as they give me."

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. The only run he gave up came in the first. The left-hander allowed six hits and walked three, departing after 105 pitches.

"We'd lost a couple of games, and you always look forward to when he's on the mound," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He was off a little early with his location, but then he kicked it in.

"I don't think it was as easy an outing has he made it look. ... He did what we brought him over here for again. He's been great."

Miller (5-15) didn't make it out of the fourth inning in losing his 14th consecutive decision. The right-hander, who made the National League All-Star team this year, has gone 22 starts without a victory, extending his Braves record.

Encarnacion, who 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.

"He's one more big bat, and he's been hot," Gibbons said. "He took that one swing and it looked like it bothered him, but other than that, (he was fine). He's as important as anybody out there."

Catcher Christian Bethancourt was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk for the Braves, who snapped a 12-game home losing streak with a victory in the series opener Tuesday.

Miller, who has a 3.00 ERA, 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.

"I think his location," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said when asked about Miller's struggles. "He left some balls out over the plate and didn't locate. And with a good-hitting club like (that), if you don't locate, you're gonna get hit, and that's what happened. That might have been the first time I haven't seen him locate in a long, long time."

The Braves (57-89) scored quickly in the bottom of the first, swinging three consecutive 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.

Goins went deep in the hole to throw out Markakis in the third inning.

"That by (Goins) had to be the best play of the day in baseball," Price said. "I'll definitely be looking for that one later."

NOTES: CF Cameron Maybin returned to the Braves' lineup for the first time since leaving a game Sept. 5 with blurred vision caused by a corneal abrasion. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. ... Toronto RHP LaTroy Hawkins, who is dealing with a tight forearm, hasn't made a relief appearance since Friday. ... The Blue Jays lost consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 14-15 when they fell Sunday to the Yankees and Tuesday to the Braves. ... With the walk-off victory Tuesday, the Braves won for the 16th consecutive time in a one-run game at Turner Field. Their last one-run home defeat was 13-12 to Washington on April 28. ...The three-game interleague series ends Thursday, with Toronto RHP Marco Estrada (12-8, 3.31 ERA) starting against Atlanta RHP Matt Wisler (5-7, 5.60 ERA).
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Toronto   Atlanta
David Price Player Shelby Miller
Win W/L Loss
7.0 IP 3.2
9 Strikeouts 3
6 Hits 7
1.29 ERA 9.82
Hitting
Toronto   Atlanta
Edwin Encarnacion Player Christian Bethancourt
3 Hits 3
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 4
1.000 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Toronto 12 1 20 .333 19 4 9 6 0 0
Atlanta 7 0 9 .219 19 12 1 4 0 2