TORONTO — It was almost fitting that the Orioles’ postseason path took them through the Toronto Blue Jays, an all-too-familiar opponent. But when the division rivals met for the 20th time this season, much more was on the line.

The Orioles fought for 11 innings Tuesday night at Rogers Centre, and manager Buck Showalter worked a chess match with his bullpen to get that far — albeit without using All-Star closer Zach Britton — but the Orioles’ season ultimately ended in a sudden and cruel way.

Edwin Encarnacion’s one-out, three-run homer to left field off Ubaldo Jimenez in the 11th inning was the dagger that ended the Orioles’ season with a 5-2 loss.

With one swing, Encarnacion sent the Orioles into the offseason. Left fielder Nolan Reimold could only turn and watch the ball sail over his head as Orioles players slowly walked off the field while the crowd went wild.

Before the game, each manager echoed the same sentiment, that there would be no secrets between these two teams. They know each other too well, have played each other too many times, and over the past few years have developed a rivalry that became so intense that every once in a while emotions boiled over.

There’s no love lost between them, mainly because they were fighting for the same thing, to bring baseball championship glory to cities that haven’t experienced it for too long. But the Orioles and Blue Jays are more alike than either would probably like to acknowledge, their success built on power and defense.

“I know our guys deserve to get something out of this season, but so does Toronto, so do the other eight teams in it,” Showalter said before the game. “That’s why it’s so fascinating for people to watch because you’ve got all these good things that meet, and someone’s going to go away.”

And the Blue Jays sent the Orioles home for the winter thanks to Encarnacion.

At home plate, a celebration ensued as the crowd chanted “Ed-die, Ed-die.”

Jimenez, the Orioles’ seventh pitcher of the night, allowed all three batters he faced to reach base. The Orioles’ season ended with Britton, who was a perfect 47-for-47 in save opportunities, in the bullpen left unused.

Right-hander Chris Tillman was pulled from the game in the fifth inning after 74 pitches. Right-hander Mychal Givens entered the game in the fifth — usually a late-inning arm, he pitched the fifth just four times in 66 regular-season appearances.

All of Showalter’s moves weren’t conventional, but worked out. He stuck with right-hander Brach Brach for a second inning in the ninth. Josh Donaldson opened the frame with a double down the left-field line, but Brach intentionally walked Encarnacion and struck out Jose Bautista. Showalter then turned to Darren O’Day, who needed just one pitch to escape the inning, inducing a 5-4-3 double play from Russell Martin.

Playing in the first postseason game of his seven-year career, designated hitter Mark Trumbo launched a two-run homer over the left-field fence on the first pitch he saw from Marcus Stroman in the fourth inning. That extended the best regular season of Trumbo’s career to the postseason after he led the majors with 47 homers.

Trumbo became the first Orioles player to homer in his postseason debut in nearly two decades. The previous one was Geronimo Berroa in 1997.

Trumbo’s blast gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead and silenced a deafening sellout crowd at Rogers Centre, part of a revived fan base that saw postseason baseball for the second straight year after 21 years without.

Tillman could only watch as Orioles nemesis Bautista’s towering leadoff solo homer landed in the first deck of the left-field stands in the second inning. It was the only hit Tillman allowed in his first 4 1/3 innings. He retired 13 of the first 15 Toronto batters he faced.

But after allowing three straight hits in the fifth to the bottom third of the order — including Ezequiel Carrera’s RBI single to tie the game at 2 — Tillman was removed from the game in favor of Givens.

And Givens, who was making his postseason debut, entered with runners at the corners with one out, and needed just one pitch to escape, inducing an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Toronto manager John Gibbons’ peculiar decision to stack the top of his lineup with six right-handers, especially in a game where matchups were inevitable, played into the Orioles’ favor. Givens, who held right-handers to a .156 batting average during the regular season, tossed 2 1/3 perfect relief innings on just 19 pitches.

After Showalter turned to left-hander Donnie Hart to face the left-handed Michael Saunders with two outs in the seventh, and Melvin Upton Jr. pinch-hit for him, Upton hit a fly ball to deep left field that Hyun Soo Kim caught on the run. But not before a beer can was thrown in his direction from the stands above, prompting center fielder Adam Jones to yell into the stands as Showalter trotted into left field to talk to the umpires.

It wasn’t the first time an Orioles outfielder was nearly struck by something thrown from the left-field stands at Rogers Centre. During a regular-season game in 2013, a beer can was thrown behind Nate McLouth as he made a diving catch in foul ground.