Castillo powers Orioles past Blue Jays
BALTIMORE — Welington Castillo hit a pair of homers, including a go-ahead two-run shot in the 10th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 Friday night.
Baltimore won for just the second time in seven games but is just a half-game behind the first-place New York Yankees.
Castillo tied the game 3-3 in the sixth with a towering two-run homer off Aaron Sanchez. The Blue Jays seemingly took the lead in the seventh when Baltimore reliever Darren O’Day struck out Justin Smoak with the bases loaded with two outs, but the ball got past Castillo, allowing a runner to score. After a manager’s review, however, Smoak was ruled out because the ball hit him during the swing, per major league rules.
After Mark Trumbo singled with two outs in the 10th, Castillo followed with a home run off Jason Grilli (1-4). It was his first career game-ending home run. Mychal Givens (4-0) picked up the win for Baltimore.
The Orioles were coming off a 1-6 road trip where their starters struggled to go deep into games. Chris Tillman had not gone past five innings in either of his first two starts after returning from the disabled list (shoulder bursitis). This time, Tillman lasted six innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
Toronto’s Ezequiel Carrera started in place of centre fielder Kevin Pillar, who was finishing his two-game suspension for yelling an anti-gay slur at Braves’ pitcher Jason Motte. The Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista, who was loudly booed each at bat, had a single, reached base three times and scored a run.
J.J. Hardy gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first. The Blue Jays answered with three runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Smoak, a double by Devon Travis and fielder’s choice by Ryan Goins.
There were two rain delays, spanning one hour and 27 minutes. ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Evan Longoria believed good at-bats were coming, and he was right.
Longoria got four hits, including a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning that sent the Tampa Bay Rays over the New York Yankees 5-4 on Friday night.
Longoria began the game in an 0-for12 rut, but has often done well against the Yankees, totalling 102 RBIs in 156 games. His go-ahead hit came with two outs after Tyler Clippard (0-2) walked two and struck out a pair.