Gausman is sharp as Orioles beat Jays
BALTIMORE 2, TORONTO 1
Kevin Gausman pitched seven sharp innings as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1, in American League baseball action Wednesday night to snap a six-game losing streak.
Gausman (11-10) allowed one run on six hits, struck out six, walked one and hit a batter to improve to 3-0 against the Blue Jays this season.
Closer Zach Britton bounced back after blowing a one-run lead in Toronto’s 3-2 victory on Tuesday night. He worked around a one-out single for his 14th save.
Adam Jones drove in a run on a double and Trey Mancini followed with an RBI triple for the Orioles (72-74), who scored two unearned runs on Marcus Stroman (11-8) in the first inning.
Stroman allowed six hits and two unearned runs over 92 pitches in six innings. He walked three and struck out seven.
The outing could have been much worse for Stroman.
The 26-year-old right-hander appeared to run into trouble in the fourth when a leadoff double and two walks loaded the bases with no out. But a strikeout and a double-play ended the threat and Stroman celebrated by pounding his chest and shouting as he skipped off the field.
Then in the sixth inning, Stroman received a mound visit from head trainer George Poulis after he shook out his hand following a pitch. Stroman stayed in the game, walking the next batter before getting another double-play to escape the inning.
Stroman had to leave his last start against the Orioles on Sept. 2 after 1 2/3 innings when he was struck on the elbow by a Mark Trumbo liner.
Rookie Richard Urena had a run-scoring double for Blue Jays extending his hit streak to six games. Urena was batting .429 over the homestand. The loss was Toronto’s first in five games. NOTES: Slugger Jose Bautista is six strikeouts shy of the Blue Jays franchise record 159 . ... Toronto begins a four-game road series in Minnesota on Thursday night.