Blue Jays Lose Tough Battle in Camden Yards

A wicked foul ball off the mask didn’t rattle Orioles’ catcher Matt Wieters as he hit a two-run home run that would be the difference in a skin-tight ball game between Baltimore and the Toronto Blue Jays.  In the end, the Jays fell to the Orioles 5-3, unable to recover from Wieter’s eighth inning homer.

J.A. Happ didn’t have the pinpoint control Jays fans have come to expect from him.  Unable to get ground balls, he struggled; although, he only gave up two walks in the game and managed three strikeouts.  Happ went 6.1 innings allowing three runs on six hits.

Joe Biagini closed out the 7th in relief of Happ without allowing a run.  Jason Grilli entered the game in the 8th and allowed his second extra base hit in 14 games when Wieters bombed his 2 run homer to right field.

Manny Machado hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and in doing so became the youngest Oriole to reach 100 career home runs.  It’s only his 5th season, all of them coming as a Baltimore Oriole. Pedro Alverez also had a stellar game for the Orioles, reaching base 3 of the 4 times he came to the plate, including a double in the first, and a walk in the fifth where he was driven in by Machado’s home run to give the Orioles a lead.

Michael Saunders continued his dominance at Camden Yards with a double in the second and a two-run home run in the seventh to tie the game back up at 3-3 for the Jays.  Kevin Pillar also had a strong game driving in Saunders from second with a single in the second inning and singling again in the fifth to go 2 for 4 in the game.  Josh Donaldson extended his hit streak to nine games with a single in the eighth inning.

Next up the Blue Jays try to win the series against the Orioles at 7:05 on Wednesday to close out the month of August.  Aaron Sanchez (12-2) will take on Yovani Gallardo (4-6).