Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1
TORONTO -- Jose Bautista homered and had two RBIs, David Price pitched seven innings and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Saturday.
Price (14-5), the Blue Jays left-hander, allowed three hits, four walks and one run while striking out eight to improve his record with the Blue Jays to 5-1 in seven starts.
Bautista, the Blue Jays right fielder, added an RBI double to his solo homer as the Blue Jays set up a rubber match in the three-game series Sunday.
Orioles right-hander Mike Wright (2-4), who was activated from the disabled list Friday, allowed seven hits, one walk and three runs in four innings. He struck out four.
Bautista hit his 32nd homer of the season in the first inning to put Toronto ahead 1-0.
The Blue Jays (77-58) took a 2-0 lead in the third on Bautista's RBI double. It scored center fielder Kevin Pillar, who led off with a single and moved to second on a walk by third baseman Josh Donaldson.
Left fielder Ben Revere's RBI single gave the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Second baseman Ryan Goins, who doubled with one out and took third on Pillar's single, scored on Revere's hit to right.
The Blue Jays scored twice in the fifth against Orioles right-handed reliever Jason Garcia.
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki singled with one out, took third on a ground-rule double by first baseman Justin Smoak and scored on a groundout to second by catcher Russell Martin. Goins doubled home Smoak for a 5-0 lead.
Blue Jays infielder Cliff Pennington was ejected from the dugout during the seventh inning.
The Orioles (65-70) scored a run in the seventh on walks to designated hitter Chris Davis and second baseman Jonathan Schoop and a single by catcher Caleb Joseph.
Right-hander Aaron Sanchez pitched the eighth inning for the Blue Jays. He allowed an infield single to third baseman Manny Machado but induced an inning-ending double play grounder to short from center fielder Adam Jones.
Left-hander Brett Cecil finished the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.
NOTES: The Blue Jays adjusted their pitching rotation and will start RHP Marco Estrada (11-8, 3.16 ERA) Sunday instead of LHP Mark Buehrle in the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles, who will start RHP Chris Tillman (9-10, 4.87 ERA). The move gives Buehrle, 36, who is feeling the wear and tear of the long season, yet another day off between starts. He will pitch Monday in the opener of a three-game series against the Red Sox at Boston. It opens up the possibility of RHP Marcus Stroman starting next Saturday at Yankee Stadium instead of Buehrle, who has struggled there in the past. ... CF Adam Jones hit his 25th homer of the season Friday to become the first Orioles player to hit at least 25 homers in five consecutive seasons. ... Orioles SS J.J. Hardy (left groin strain) is on schedule to come off the disabled list Tuesday.