NEW YORK -- When the Yankees traded for Edwin Encarnacion on June 16, they knew what to expect. This was a guy they were all too familiar with. It was in the American League East, after all, where Encarnacion made his name as one of the game’s most feared power hitters from 2009-16 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 36-year-old had most recently been playing for Seattle, where he was hitting .241 with an AL-leading 21 home runs and an .888 OPS in 65 games. When the Yankees brought him to the Bronx, manager Aaron Boone expressed his excitement for another big bat in his already-explosive offense.

“It’s obviously a great lineup, we have a lot of great players, but it’s gotta go play out,” Boone said on June 18. “It has a chance to be a special lineup, but that’s all it is right now. We’ve gotta go out there and continue to perform, but [I’m] certainly excited about the possibilities of it.”

In a 4-0 victory Friday night, against none other than the Blue Jays, the Yankees got their money’s worth. Encarnacion went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, matching his RBI total from his previous 12 games combined and marking his first multihit effort in 17 games as a Yankee. He also finally had a shining moment in front of a roaring crowd at Yankee Stadium.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, with Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez on his heels after already giving up a run in the frame, Encarnacion stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. Against his former team, Encarnacion did exactly what he had once done for them.

Swinging at a 93-mph pitch in the upper-right corner of the strike zone, Encarnacion rocked a line drive to the left-center wall that, if it were only inches higher, could have been his first grand slam in a Yankees uniform. It didn’t matter, however, because he hit the ball so hard that Blue Jays left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. couldn’t track it properly, and it turned into a bases-clearing double that put the Yankees up by four runs.

“[He] smoked a couple balls,” Boone said. “The first one, the base hit, but then the double, that ball I think [Gurriel Jr.] probably thought he had a play on, but [Encarnacion] hit it so well, it just kind of kept carrying on him.”

Encarnacion had been struggling to make an impact for the Yanks. Since joining the team as the designated hitter in the No. 5 spot in the lineup, he had been hitting .123 with just eight hits and seven RBIs in 65 at-bats, including an 0-for-4 outing in his home debut. Nevertheless, Encarnacion’s faith in his ability never wavered.

“I feel good, it’s just all about getting my timing right,” Encarnacion said. “I don’t worry too much, I know what I can do, I’m gonna be ready. ... I do a lot of repetitions, work in the cage, watching video, working with the hitting coach and seeing what’s in my swing.”

Boone showed just as much confidence, saying that the Yankees always knew what Encarnacion would be capable of. Friday night, he just put it on display for everyone else to see.

“I really feel like, even though I know he hasn’t gotten a ton of results, I feel like the at-bats have been there,” Boone said. “And you can see it’s a lot to get through him. You have to execute. He’s missed some pitches, I think, that he’s probably been on. He hasn’t swung it as great as he’s gonna. But he’s so dangerous and you can sense that when they go through him.”

“He’s a really good hitter, and he’s a presence in our lineup, and I love how he looks in our lineup.”