Jays blast off in big series vs. Orioles
Bautista, Encarnacion and Tulowitzki go deep in first to set the tone in opener
If the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles continue to battle for the American League East crown over the final two months of the season, it stands to be an uncomfortable homestretch for their respective pitching staffs.
The Jays were the victors Friday night, outslugging the Orioles to win 6-5 in the occasionally sloppy — but nevertheless entertaining — opening game of the season’s most important series to date for both clubs, who currently sit first and second in the division.
The Jays are now just a half-game back of Baltimore and could leapfrog into first with a win on Saturday or Sunday.
The two offensively inclined clubs, which entered the game not only one-two in the standings but also in home runs, traded opening salvos in the first inning. Baltimore jumped out to an early lead with a two-run first, while the Jays answered with authority in the bottom half, clubbing three solo homers — care of Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki — to take the lead.
Following its slow start to the season, the Jays’ offence has continued to roll through the summer, living up to the reputation it established last year. Since June 11 — a stretch in which the Jays have averaged more than six runs per game — no team has scored more.
They chased Orioles starter Kevin Gausman after just three innings.
But even as the Jays tried to pull away on Friday night, the Orioles would claw back into the game.
They drew within one in the eighth, when Manny Machado got just enough of Jason Grilli’s first pitch to send it over the wall in right-centre.
In his second outing since coming off the disabled list due to a nagging back injury, Marco Estrada got off to a slow start, but settled in for a solid enough six innings, in which he held the Orioles to three earned runs on five hits and a pair of walks.
The unearned run scored in strange fashion in the third when, with the Jays’ infield shifted to Chris Davis’s pull side, Machado was able to score from first on Davis’s routine groundout. In a bit of heads-up base running, Machado rounded second and headed for third, which was left entirely vacant by the shifted infield. Catcher Russell Martin scrambled to get there in time, but bobbled the throw across the diamond from Justin Smoak, allowing Machado to cross a now-unoccupied home plate.
But as they did in the first, the Jays’ offence answered again in the bottom half, tacking on three more runs, thanks in part to a costly throwing error by Orioles catcher Matt Wieters.
Friday marked the 15th of Estrada’s 18 starts this season in which he has allowed five hits or fewer, as the Jays’ finessing right-hander continues to chase history. Opposing batters have hit just .179 off Estrada this season, which is the lowest mark for any starting pitcher since Pedro Martinez held batters to a paltry .166 in 2000, the year he won his third Cy Young.