Orioles get offensive, beat Blue Jays to avoid the sweep
BALTIMORE 5 TORONTO 3
The Baltimore Orioles finally put on an offensive show at Camden Yards, one that manager Buck Showalter hopes will be repeated many times this summer.
Jonathan Schoop drove in two runs, Kevin Gausman pitched six effective innings and the Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 Wednesday night to avoid a threegame sweep.
Limited to seven runs in their first five home games of the season, the Orioles got off to another slow start before finally getting their slumbering offence on track.
Baltimore amassed 11 hits after the third inning, including two by Chris Davis, who entered with a .081 batting average.
“Some better at-bats,” Showalter said. “I hope it’s kind of coinciding with a little warmer weather.”
Game-time temperature was a far-from-toasty 12 C, but that was still warmer than the first games of the series, in which the Orioles totalled two runs and were held hitless until the eighth inning on Tuesday night.
In this one, Baltimore managed only a walk through three innings. In the fourth, however, Manny Machado and Schoop hit successive doubles before Davis ended a 0-for-12 skid with an RBI single and Tim Beckham added a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
“I thought we did a great job tonight of just hanging in there, getting the runs when we could and not trying to do too much,” Davis said. “Hopefully, we can build off of that.”
Gausman (1-1) allowed three runs and six hits, walking three and striking out seven, to earn his first win in three starts.
“I felt like I got better as the game went on,” the right-hander said. “My command got better.”
Brad Brach worked the ninth for his third save.
Aledmys Diaz homered for the Blue Jays, who fell to 6-1 this season when scoring first. Toronto was also denied its first three-game road sweep since Aug. 21-23, 2016, against the Los Angeles Angels.
Marco Estrada (1-1) allowed four runs and six hits in four-plus innings. The right-hander was 7-1 in 13 starts against Baltimore, including 3-0 last year.
“The results weren’t good, but I thought his stuff was better than that,” manager John Gibbons said.
Estrada had some discomfort in his lower back. However, he said that was not the reason for his struggle.
“As the game went on, I just lost control and wasn’t making pitches anymore,” Estrada said.
After Yangervis Solarte hit a two-out RBI single in the Toronto fifth, Baltimore benefited from its first challenge of the season to make it 4-2 in the bottom half.
With runners on first and second, Machado lifted a fly ball that right-fielder Randal Grichuk dived for and missed near the foul line. It was originally ruled a foul ball, but the umpires reversed the call to a single and Schoop followed with an RBI single that ended Estrada’s night.
Diaz hit his third homer of the season in the sixth before rookie Chance Sisco singled in a run in the Baltimore half.
Mariners 4, Royals 2
KANSAS CITY — Scott Servais reclined in a chair in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, a big smile on the Seattle manager’s face, and spoke before the first reporter could ask a question.
“Long road trip, happy road trip,” he said. “Cold road trip.” Most of it. The weather finally turned Wednesday and gave Seattle a warm, sun-splashed afternoon in Kansas City, and Servais’ club made sure to relish the spring-like temperatures. Kyle Seager hit a go-ahead homer with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Mariners held on to beat the Royals 4-2 to wrap up a winning seven-game journey that covered 10 days and about 5,200 miles.
Seattle went 4-3 on its visits to San Francisco, Minnesota and Kansas City.
“I thought we played really good baseball, and getting these wins the past two games really sets the pace for us going home,” said James Paxton, who matched a career-best with 10 strikeouts over six sharp innings.