Toronto continues to be trouble for Orioles
Jays score 7 runs in 5th inning, deal O's 5th loss in row and knock them out of 1st place
Their 9-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays was unsettling in many ways, above all because the Orioles can't seem to find any way to win north of the border against a team they're going to have to jockey with for the division down the stretch.
Orioles starter Yovani Gallardo was effective early but unraveled quickly in a seven-run fifth inning during which the suddenly struggling Orioles bullpen allowed the game to get out of hand.
Meanwhile, Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ held the Orioles to three hits over seven innings, their only run coming on designated hitter Pedro Alvarez's homer in the second inning.
“He hit his spots pretty well today,” right fielder Mark Trumbo said. “There wasn't a whole lot to hit. Yeah, it was a good job by him. Yeah, today he had some late life [on the fastball]. He's been doing well lately. There wasn't much to be had.”
The Orioles (58-45) have lost five straight, tying their season high, and are 11-14 since June 29. They had been in the first place for all but two days since June 5, but now look up at Toronto (59-45) in the division standings by a half-game.
“Everything's about pitching here at this level,” manager Buck Showalter said after the game. “They catch the ball well. They're a good team. We're a good team. We'll put it behind us and go out there tomorrow. They're a good starting pitching team. They've got good people in the bullpen. That's why they, and Boston and us, are where we are, so you've got to trust your players and just don't throw everybody under the bus because you've had a tough couple of games.”
The Orioles enter today's series finale having lost five of their six games at Rogers Centre this season, allowing an average of 7.5 runs in those games.
“We could come out and throw up 20 hits [on Sunday],” said Trumbo, who was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Saturday. “Who knows what is going to happen? You kind of assume when you go up against these guys it's going to be a tight game and you're going to have to play smart baseball and take advantage when you can. Because you are going to need those runs — they have a really good offense. We've got to do our part to try and counter them.”
Gallardo held Toronto scoreless through his first 41/3 innings before yielding a solo homer to second baseman Devon Travis to tie the game at 1, overcoming a 28-pitch first inning in which he escaped a bases-loaded jam.
“To get out of a jam like that, just feel confident you can get out of it if you run into a situation like that later in the ballgame,” Gallardo said. “I was battling my command since the first inning. I was making pitches whenever I had to except that fifth inning. It was location.”
Gallardo failed to get an out after that, issuing back-to-back walks to Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson and then yielding an RBI double to Edwin Encarnacion as Gallardo reached his third time through the order.
With runners on second and third, Gallardo walked Michael Saunders intentionally and was pulled from the game with the bases loaded.
All three base runners scored as Gallardo was charged with five runs — tying his season high — on five hits and five walks.
“They have a really good lineup,” Givens said. “You just try to minimize the damage and stop the bleeding as best as possible.”
Givens walked in a run on six pitches to Troy Tulowitzki, followed by Russell Martin's two-run double over Trumbo in right field. Kevin Pillar's two-out double off Givens scored two more runs.
He entered the game 3-for-7 against Happ before hitting his 13th homer of the season in the second inning, yanking an 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall.
Alvarez's blast was his first homer against a left-hander this season and just his fourth hit in 25 at-bats against lefties.
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