“Guys did a hell of a job coming back into that game”. The difference is their bullpen shut us down late and we didn’t shut them down. The team’s 11 blown saves are second to Oakland (12) in the AL.
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“I got a small bit confused, that’s no excuse”, said Reyes. Pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro walked against left-hander Brian Matusz to open the bottom of the eighth and infielder Munenori Kawasaki ran for him and tool second on Reyes’ sacrifice. I thought Kawa was right there. Hardy bounced an RBI single up the middle as Reyes inexplicably backed off the ball and the Orioles took the lead. Flaherty followed with a two-run triple to put Baltimore ahead 12-9.
Designated hitter Jimmy Paredes hit a three-run homer for Baltimore and first baseman Chris Davis added a solo shot.
“Yeah, it is a game of momentum”, O’Day said of his efforts.
Darren O’Day (4-0) got two outs to win for the second straight day. Still, the Blue Jays fell to 14-5 in June.
The Orioles rallied after Paredes blooped a hit off Estrada, who received a standing ovation from the crowd when he left in the eighth after his 118th pitch of the night. Chris Tillman toes the rubber for the third time against Toronto this season.
Left fielder Ezequiel Carrera hit a three-run homer, right fielder Jose Bautista hit a two-run shot and center fielder Kevin Pillar hit a solo homer for the Blue Jays. Bo Schultz came in and looked like he would give up more when Wieters and Davis drew walks, but Travis Snider struck out to the end inning. Two batters later, Tommy Hunter allowed a two-run single to Jose Bautista. Then, Ryan Flaherty laced a two-run triple into the right-center field gap, chasing Cecil from the game.
Aaron Loup (L: 2-4, 4.78) suffered the loss, getting charged with all three ninth-inning runs in 2/3 of an inning. Orioles’ right-hander Kevin Gausman, who had been on the disabled list since May 8 because of tendinitis in his shoulder, didn’t factor in the decision in his first start of the season. Gausman allowed four hits, one walk and two runs in five innings before being replaced by right-hander Chaz Roe.
The Orioles (36-33) have won back-to-back road series after four straight winless series away from Camden Yards.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Mark Buehrle reached an impressive milestone on Saturday as he made his 500th career MLB appearance.
After the game, the Blue Jays optioned Copeland, Tepera and Coke to Triple-A Buffalo with counter moves to come.
Notes: The game took three hours seven minutes to play….
Showalter earned his 1,295th win, tying Cap Anson for 32nd place. One might argue that the Orioles were afraid to let Bautista beat them, however that sly pitch-around was a key moment. Dickey went 7 1/3 innings and allowed one run in Toronto’s 7-1 home victory Thursday night over the New York Mets.
Due to an off-day next Thursday, the Jays will not require a fifth starter – a starter in the Sanchez/Copeland spot – until June 30 at home against Boston.
THE RUMOR: In need of a strong closer, the Blue Jays are eyeing Brewers five-time All-Star reliever Francisco Rodriguez. Unfortunately, according to John Gibbons, Aaron Sanchez won’t be ready to return for that start.
After another meltdown in the bullpen, the Toronto Blue Jays did the next most logical thing.
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