Orioles 2 Blue Jays 1
TORONTO — Andrew Cashner threw six shutout innings as the Baltimore Orioles extended their winning streak to four with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.
Toronto, its bats quiet until very late, lost its third in a row. Baltimore (4-1) scored all the runs it needed in the sixth inning.
Rowdy Tellez homered deep to centre to open the ninth and make things interesting. But for the second straight night, a late Jays rally fell just short. Freddy Galvis flied out to end the comeback.
Baltimore outhit Toronto 10-6.
The Jays (2-4) made their news off the field Tuesday with two trades, a big-money contract extension and a player release.
For the second night in a row, the Jays ran into a dialed-in Orioles pitcher. David Hess threw 6 1/3 no-hit innings Monday when Baltimore staved off a late Jays rally to win 6-5.
Cashner (1-1), who went 4-15 last season with a 5.29 earned-run average, restricted Toronto to singles in the fourth and fifth before loading the bases with two outs in the sixth on two singles and a walk. Tellez flied out to left to end the inning, however.
Cashner allowed four hits — all singles — with three walks and three strikeouts in all. He threw 89 pitches, 57 for strikes.
Paul Fry, with two innings, and former Blue Jay Miguel Castro, who got the save despite giving up the homer in the ninth, finished it off for Baltimore.
The Jays’ early hitting woes continued, with just one walk accounting for the offence in the first three innings Tuesday. Monday’s loss had marked the fourth time in five games that Toronto failed to get a runner on base in the first three innings.
Marcus Stroman (0-1), in his 110th career start, bent but didn’t break until the sixth when Jonathan Villar tripled home Dwight Smith Jr., with no outs for a 1-0 lead. Trey Mancini then drove in Villar with a single. A double play cleared the bases and Toronto escaped further damage.
The runs ended Stroman’s 12-inning scoreless streak to start the season.
A subsequent walk marked the end of Stroman’s evening. He gave way to Tim Mayza after yielding two runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and one walk. Stroman threw 101 pitches including 63 strikes.
Daniel Hudson and Javy Guerra also pitched for Toronto.
Baltimore threatened in the ninth with a Joey Rickard double with one out in the ninth, followed by an intentional walk to Chris Davis. But a fine play at third by Brandon Drury ended the inning.
The Jays announced a US$52-million five-year contract extension for outfielder Randal Grichuk in the early innings of the game.
Grichuk pinch-hit in the ninth, grounding out.
Earlier in the day, popular outfielder Kevin Pillar was dealt to the San Francisco Giants for three players: right-handed reliever Derek Law, utility infielder Alen Hanson and right-handed pitching prospect Juan De Paula.
Toronto also acquired speedy outfielder Socrates Brito from San Diego and released pitcher Bud Norris from his minor-league deal.
“I can’t imagine it not slowing down,” GM Ross Atkins said with a grin when asked about future moves. “It’s the biggest none-deadline day I think I’ve ever experienced in baseball myself … Not to say it’s the busiest of all others.
“Yeah it will absolutely slow down.”
Atkins said the Pillar deal “made sense to gain (financial) control and create opportunities for others.”
Anthony Alford got the first audition, summoned from Triple-A Buffalo to appear in his 18th major-league game — and his first start in centre field. The 24-year-old Alford struck out, grounded out and flied out.
The game drew 12,110, an improvement from Monday’s 10,460. A $1 hot dog special may have helped — slightly — at the turnstiles.
The smallest home crowd at Rogers Centre was 10,314 on April 19, 2010. The smallest home crowd ever was 10,074 at Exhibition Stadium on April 17, 1979.