Blue Jays' winning streak reaches 11

TORONTO -- The way the Toronto Blue Jays are playing is no surprise to Edwin Encarnacion.

He thought all along that they had it in them even as they struggled through the early season.

"I've been waiting for this since the season started," the Blue Jays first baseman said.

With Encarnacion leading the way with four RBI and three hits that included a two-run homer and a two-run double, the Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 13-5 on Sunday to equal their club record of 11 straight wins.

"I'm not surprised at this, I know this team is good," Encarnacion said. "I know we can do it."

The Blue Jays (38-36) have put themselves back in the American League East race with the three-game sweep of the Orioles (42-34).

In the process, Josh Johnson (1-2) picked up his first win of the season in his eighth start.

"Everybody has been having fun, " said Encarnacion, who has 21 homers and 63 RBI. "That's what we have to keep doing, having fun, and see what happens."

The Blue Jays had three RBI from Jose Bautista and two from Melky Cabrera before a sellout crowd of 45,214 at Rogers Centre.

Ryan Flaherty had two home runs and three RBI for Baltimore and Colby Rasmus homered for Toronto.

It is the third time in history that the Blue Jays have won 11 in row -- June 2-13, 1987, and Aug. 27-Sept. 7, 1998, were the others.

"We're on a nice little roll right now; it's not going to last forever," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "But you enjoy it and take it while it lasts."

Johnson, who spent time on disabled list with a strained triceps, allowed four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings.

"It's awesome, just to be a part of this and the streak we've got going," Johnson said. "The offense was outstanding today so thank you for that."

Johnson said he has never been with a team on such a roll.

"Not like this," he said. "Everybody's doing their job, everybody is pitching in. It's impressive."

Left-hander Aaron Loup replaced the right-hander after Flaherty's two-run homer with none out in the seventh.

"He's an established pitcher," Flaherty said of Johnson. "He has a good fastball and got ahead of guys and was able to control the game. He did a good job of that."

Flaherty also homered against Dustin McGowan in the ninth for his first career two-homer game and fifth home run this season.

"I put together a couple good at-bats today and the past couple days, I'm just trying to be consistent," Flaherty said.

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said, "We ran into a team that came in here on an eight-game winning streak. It shows that this division is getting better, it's heating up. It's good; it's good for this division. We ran into a good team. You have to tip your cap sometimes."

Orioles starter Freddy Garcia (3-5) allowed seven hits and seven runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Baltimore left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland gave up five runs and five hits, including the 14th homer of the season by Rasmus to lead off the seventh. Bautista hit a three-run double against Pedro Strop in the seventh.

The Orioles left the bases loaded in the first inning. After a single by Nate McLouth and a ground-rule double by Nick Markakis, Chris Davis was intentionally walked and Matt Wieters fouled out to end the inning.

Gibbons said the plan was not to let Davis, who has 27 homers and 69 RBI this season, have a chance to beat his team.

"It was set up perfectly; we had the base open," Gibbons said. "He's pretty good; it doesn't take much for him to flip one in the seats, especially the way the ball flies here."

Johnson said, "It seems like if I can get out of the first, things usually go pretty well. I get a little amped up, maybe too amped up. I've been trying to figure that out for a long time."

NOTES: With Saturday's 4-2 victory, the Blue Jays assured themselves of their third straight series win for the first time since April 29-May 9, 2010. ... McLouth extended his hitting streak to seven games when he singled on the first pitch of the game. ... Lind extended his hitting streak against the Orioles to 13 games with a first-inning single that deflected off Garcia. ... LHP Zach Britton (1-1, 5.56 ERA) will open a four-game series in Baltimore against the Cleveland Indians on Monday, facing RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (5-4, 4.86 ERA). ... Toronto will start RHP Esmil Rogers (3-2, 3.14 ERA) against RHP Jeremy Hellickson (5-3, 5.50 ERA) in the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.