O’S SLIP PAST JAYS, CLINCH AL EAST CROWN

Pearce Extends Hitting Streak to 24

BALTIMORE, Sept. 15 (AP) – Alejandro de Aza’s two-out triple in the bottom of the seventh scored Caleb Joseph with the go-ahead run and the Baltimore Orioles went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 at Camden Yards, clinching the American League East title in the process.  The Orioles are the first team in the AL to clinch a division; the Washington Nationals clinched the National League’s East Division on September 5.  Steve Pearce, playing first base for Baltimore in place of suspended Chris Davis, had a pair of hits and drove in two runs, extending his hitting streak to 24 games, tying him with teammate Adam Jones for the second longest hitting streak in the AL this season. 

The teams exchanged runs in the first inning.  Jose Reyes led off the game for the Blue Jays with a double and, two outs later, scored on Danny Valencia’s base hit off Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen.  The Orioles tied the game in the bottom half of the opening frame when Ryan Flaherty singled with one out off Toronto starter Marcus Stroman, advanced to second on Joseph’s sacrifice, and scored on Pearce’s base hit.

With one out in the bottom of the third, Jones doubled off Stroman, advanced to third on Nelson Cruz’s fly ball to the warning track in right and came home on Pearce’s second single of the game.  But the Jays tied the game in the top of the fifth.  Edwin Encarnacion singled with one out and advanced to second when Valencia walked.  Dioner Navarro then singled to left-center, scoring Encarnacion and chasing Valencia to third.  With the go-ahead run on third and only one out, Orioles manager Buck Showalter summoned Ryan Webb from the bullpen and he induced John Mayberry to ground into an inning ending double play, keeping the game tied at two.

Neither team threatened to score again until Baltimore broke through in the seventh.  Stroman got Flaherty on a fly ball to center, but Joseph singled.  Brett Cecil came on to face Nick Markakis and fanned the Orioles right fielder for the second out.  Showalter stuck with de Aza against the left-handed Cecil and was rewarded when de Aza, recently acquired via trade from the Chicago White Sox, ripped a ground ball past first baseman Valencia and down the right field line.  The ball kicked around in the corner for some time, allowing Joseph to score without a throw.  De Aza ended up on third with a triple.

Brian Matusz retired the Blue Jays in order in the top of the eighth and, with closer Zach Britton unavailable, Darren O’Day came on in the ninth and set Ryan Goins, Reyes and Jose Bautista down in order to preserve the win.

Toronto still holds the final wildcard slot in the American League, but coupled with the victories by the Yankees and Mariners, the lead is down to two games.

9/15/2014, Tor14-Bal14, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP

2014 Blue Jays         1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0     2  8  0     9  0

2014 Orioles           1  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  x     3  7  0     6  1

Blue Jays            AB  R  H BI   AVG    Orioles              AB  R  H BI   AVG

Reyes             ss  5  1  2  0  .247    Markakis          rf  4  0  0  0  .264

Bautista          cf  5  0  0  0  .237    De Aza            lf  4  1  2  1  .229

Encarnacion       dh  4  1  1  0  .247     Lough            lf  0  0  0  0  .214

Valencia          1b  2  0  1  1  .278    Jones,A           cf  4  1  1  0  .287

Navarro,D         c   4  0  2  1  .271    Cruz,N            dh  3  0  0  0  .276

Mayberry          rf  2  0  0  0  .221    Pearce            1b  3  0  2  2  .339

 Lind             ph  1  0  0  0  .367    Hardy,J           ss  4  0  0  0  .266

 Rasmus,Col       cf  0  0  0  0  .264    Johnson,Ke        3b  3  0  0  0  .192

Tolleson,St       3b  2  0  1  0  .283     Schoop           2b  0  0  0  0  .186

 Gose             ph  1  0  0  0  .232    Flaherty          2b  3  0  1  0  .158

 Kawasaki         3b  1  0  0  0  .252    Joseph,C          c   2  1  1  0  .236

Pillar            lf  3  0  1  0  .290                         30  3  7  3

Goins             2b  4  0  0  0  .207

                     34  2  8  2

Blue Jays                        INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Stroman          L 9-5           6.1  6  3  3  2  5  99  63  3.69

Cecil                            0.2  1  0  0  0  2  12   8  1.97

Sanchez,Aa                       1.0  0  0  0  0  2  12   7  1.15

                                 8.0  7  3  3  2  9 123  78

Orioles                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Chen,W                           4.1  7  2  2  4  1 100  54  3.98

Webb,R                           1.0  0  0  0  0  0   6   4  1.72

McFarland                        0.1  1  0  0  0  1  14  10  4.70

Brach            W 5-2           1.1  0  0  0  0  1  12   7  2.10

Matusz           H 20            1.0  0  0  0  0  1  11   8  4.70

O'Day            S 4             1.0  0  0  0  0  0  12   8  1.17

                                 9.0  8  2  2  4  4 155  91

Tor: Gose batted for Tolleson,St in the 5th

     Kawasaki inserted at 3b in the 5th

     Lind batted for Mayberry in the 8th

     Bautista moved to rf in the 8th

     Rasmus,Col inserted at cf in the 8th

Bal: Lough inserted at lf in the 9th

     Schoop inserted at 2b in the 9th

     Flaherty moved to 3b in the 9th

2B-Reyes(29), De Aza(15), Jones,A(30). 3B-De Aza(11). RBI-Valencia(21),

Navarro,D(69), De Aza(35), Pearce 2(47). K-Encarnacion, Pillar, Goins 2,

Markakis 2, Jones,A 2, Cruz,N 2, Pearce, Hardy,J, Flaherty. BB-Valencia 2,

Mayberry, Pillar, Cruz,N, Pearce. SH-Joseph,C.

GWRBI: De Aza

Temperature: 71, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 10 MPH.

Attendance: 37,876

Game Time: 2:50