O’s climb within 3 of Yanks

Zach Britton made an ample contribution to the Orioles’ pennant drive, striking out a careerhigh 10 over eight innings in a 53 win over the White Sox yesterday in Baltimore.

Then, as his teammates prepared to take a train to New York for a huge series against the Yankees, Britton packed his bags for a drive to Norfolk, home of Baltimore’s TripleA affiliate.

Britton’s stellar pitching was backed by home runs from Taylor Teagarden and Adam Jones.

The Orioles now stand within three games of the idle AL Eastleading Yankees, who will be trying to retain that margin in the threegame series that begins tonight.

“Trust me, this group is going to have fun with it,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said.

The Orioles head north with a suitcase full of momentum.

“It’s nice to take this one to New York,” said Britton, who was optioned to Norfolk after the game to make room for lefthander Randy Wolf, signed Thursday after being cut by Milwaukee last week.

Britton (41) gave up one run, seven hits and did not issue a walk.

The lefthander allowed hits to five of the first nine batters he faced, but finished by retiring 19 of 21.

Blue Jays 2, Rays 0

In Toronto, Carlos Villanueva (74) pitched six sharp innings as the Blue Jays snapped a fivegame losing streak against the Rays.

Tampa Bay lost for the fifth time in six games and dropped 1½ games behind Baltimore for the second AL wildcard berth. The Rays have been shut out twice in the past three games, losing 10 at Texas on Tuesday night.

Kelly Johnson drove in both runs and Toronto won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 1213, improving to 39 against the Rays this season.

The hardluck loser was Rays rookie lefthander Matt Moore, who allowed two runs and six hits in six innings. .