Jays’ slugger Edwin Encarnacion named AL player of the month for August

NEW YORK, N.Y. – After dominating at the plate for all of August, Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion has been named the American League’s player of the month.

Toronto’s first baseman/designated hitter had a league-best .407 average for August, hitting 11 homers and driving in 35 runs over that span.

He also finished first in the league in slugging percentage (.907) and extra-base hits (21).

Encarnacion had a hit in every game he played in August as he built a 26-game hitting streak from July 26 to Aug. 31. The streak tied for the second-longest in Blue Jays history.

He is the first AL player with a hitting streak longer than 25 games since Ichrio Suzuki logged a streak of 27 in 2009.

His streak also included Saturday’s three-homer, nine-RBI performance in Toronto’s 15-1 win over Detroit.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Josh Donaldson, who also had an 11-homer, 35-RBI month, and Encarnacion became the first pair of teammates to have at least 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in a single month since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in July 1931.

Donaldson and Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros also received votes.