BALTIMORE, Maryland August 6, 2014 - The Orioles had stopped hitting but were still leading the American League East. According to the talking heads on MLB, that was proof that the AL East was not a very strong division this season. What it was proof of was that the talking heads are not so smart. The AL East is always strong. Last year's World Champion, the Boston Red Sox, play in the AL East - you may recall - and they are no better than last place at this moment. Last night those 'light hitting' Orioles wandered into the Rogers Centre to begin an important three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays are in second place in the division and, prior to this past weekend, were charging hard. Then they went to Houston, where the last place team in the AL West, the Astros, play, and promptly lost three straight games. That isn't how you want to prep for a key series against the division leaders. Sure enough, last night the Blue Jays new woes continued. Starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, who had been the Jays' ace early in the season, has suddenly hit the skids and there was no righting the ship last night. Baltimore clubbed three home runs off of Buehrle en route to a 9-3 romp. Caleb Joseph, Jonathan Schoop and Chris Davis went deep and Bud Norris won his 9th game as the Orioles improved to 64-48.
Buehrle went into the start with a record of 11-7 and a healthy ERA in the low threes. But his last five starts have all been shakey and he was in trouble in this one right from the git go. He managed to wiggle out of big jams in the first and second innings but he stumbled again in the third and this time the Orioles made him pay. Delmon Young drew a one out free pass and raced home with two outs when J.J. Hardy uncorked a long double to deep center field. Baltimore struck hard in the fourth to put space between themselves and their pursuers. Joseph led off with his sixth homer - and third in the last three games - and was followed by Jonathan Schoop's 9th round tripper. But the Orioles weren't finished in the inning. Nick Markakis and Manny Machado followed the back-to-back homers with back-to-back singles, and both runners advanced one out later when Buehrle uncorked a wild pitch. Markakis then scored on Young's infield hit.
Toronto got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Colby Rasmus clubbed a two-out two-run long ball off of Norris. But Baltimore wasn't content to protect their lead. Instead, Chris Davis opened the Orioles lead back up again when he went deep for the 18th time this season in the top of the fifth. One inning later, Nelson Cruz' two-out hit plated Manny Machado and gave the Orioles a four-run cushion at 6-2.
To the Blue Jays' credit, they didn't go quietly. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh on consecutive singles by Ryan Goins, Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera. Jose Bautista got a run home on a sacrifice fly off of Tommy Hunter, who replaced Brian Matusz after Reyes' hit. Hunter got out of the jam when he induced Dioner Navarro to ground into a double play: Hardy to Schoop to Davis.
Leading 6-3, Baltimore put the game away for good in the 8th. Machado lead off and drew a walk from Toronto relief hurler Dustin McGowan. Machado moved to second on Adam Jones single. McGowan then issued another free pass to Young to load the bases. Cruzz got his second RBI of the game, and almost got a lot more; his long drive to center field was so well hit that it not only scored Machado from third, but also allowed Jones to race to third and Young to second. Hardy plated the inning's second run when he singled solidly to left, scoring Jones. Young stopped at third. Chris Davis picked up his second RBI of the game when he scored Young on a sacrifice fly that Blue Jay third baseman Danny Valencia caught in foul territory down the third base line. With Valencia's momentum carrying him deeper into the outfield, Young tagged and scored and Hardy tagged and raced to second. Really good baseball teams - typically found in the American League East - do things like this.
Once again the Orioles bullpen - bolstered now with the addition of Andrew Miller - kept the Orioles in the lead when they took the lead. Norris gave up two earned runs and seven hits in five and one-third innings. After him, Matusz went two-thirds, Hunter went one inning, Miller went one inning and T.J. MacFarland went one inning (it wasn't a save situation by the ninth inning). Only Matusz was touched up, and then only slightly.
Baltimore's lead also increased over third place New York, which lost at home to the Tigers, 4=3. Tampa Bay also lost, going down 3-0 in Oakland. The Red Sox lost in Saint Louis to the Cardinals, 3-2. Tonight, Wei-Yin Chen goes for his 13th win against the Blue Jays Drew Hutchinson. Chen is second in the league in wins.
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