Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Drew Hutchison carried a perfect game into
the sixth inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays held off a comeback effort in the
ninth to notch a 7-6 victory over the Baltimore Orioles that completed a
series sweep.
Hutchison (2-0) held the Orioles to two runs and four hits while fanning seven
without a walk over eight outstanding innings. He exited with a 7-2 lead that
was cut down to a run after Baltimore scored four times in the ninth.
Manny Machado’s second homer of the night, a three-run shot off Miguel
Castro, brought the Orioles within 7-6 before the Toronto rookie retired the
next three hitters to finish off the Blue Jays’ first three-game sweep of
Baltimore since June of 2013.
The Blue Jays have amassed 47 runs in winning five of their six meetings with
the Orioles this season.
Josh Donaldson went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer for Toronto, which battered
Chris Tillman en route to building a 7-0 lead after five innings. Kevin Pillar
also had two hits and a pair of RBI
Machado broke up Hutchison’s perfect game bid with a solo homer in the sixth,
while Adam Jones finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the Orioles’ fourth
consecutive loss.
Tillman (2-2) turned in a second straight dud against Toronto, which rocked
the righty for seven runs in 2 2/3 innings in Baltimore on April 12. He was
plagued by three walks while permitting five hits — four of which went for
extra bases — in Thursday’s outing.
Tillman’s command began to desert him in the bottom of the third inning, which
began with a walk to Danny Valencia and Pillar’s infield single. Following a
sacrifice bunt and Devon Travis’ fielder’s choice grounder in which Valencia
beat Chris Davis’ throw home, Donaldson crushed a flat changeup off the facade
of the upper deck in left for a 3-0 lead.
More control problems came Tillman’s way in the fourth, as he walked the first
two hitters prior to yielding Valencia’s RBI double that plated Justin Smoak.
Pillar then smashed a ball off the third-base bag for a two-run double that
increased Toronto’s advantage to 6-0.
“Other than a few pitches, I feel like I beat us tonight,” Tillman said. “I
walked way too many, I fell behind way too much.”
Donaldson’s leadoff double in the fifth led to another run charged to Tillman
when Russell Martin greeted reliever Brad Brach with a two-out double.
Hutchison, meanwhile, kept on cruising. The right-hander needed just 28
pitches his first time through the Baltimore lineup and threw only 56 while
still perfect after five.
“I felt like I was doing a good job being aggressive in the zone,” Hutchison
said. “I got a good tempo going, got my fastball going and just keeping ahead
of guys, that was the difference.”
Machado drove his initial offering in the sixth over the wall in left,
however, to end the bid.
The Orioles put up another run in the seventh when Jones doubled, took third
on a Delmon Young single and came home on Travis Snider’s fielder’s choice
force out, then put quite a scare into the home crowd in the ninth.
After Jones, Young and Snider all singled off Liam Hendricks to produce a run,
Machado worked the count full against Castro before drilling a fastball into
the left-field seats to trim the deficit to 7-6.
Castro shook off the blast, however, to set down Steve Pearce and Ryan
Lavarnway to record his fourth save.
Game Notes
The Blue Jays swept an American League team at home for the first time since
May 26-28 of last season against Tampa Bay … Toronto right fielder Jose
Bautista sat out for a second straight night with a strained right shoulder
… Donaldson now has four homers and 10 RBI over his last eight games …
Travis extended his hitting streak to nine games with an eighth-inning double
… The Blue Jays prevailed despite going 3-for-16 with runners in scoring
position.
