Wieters' 8th-inning blast pushes Orioles past Jays
BALTIMORE -- Matt Wieters hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Baltimore Orioles a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle game of a crucial three-game series Tuesday night.
The Orioles (72-60) pulled within three games of first-place Toronto (75-57) in the American League East race. Baltimore snapped the Blue Jays' four-game winning streak with the key victory, as a loss would have left the Orioles five back with only 30 games left.
Jonathan Schoop started the game-winning rally with a two-out walk off Jason Grilli (4-2). Wieters then crushed the first pitch for a two-run homer to right that snapped a 3-3 tie.
Brad Brach (8-2) got the victory thanks to 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Zach Britton came on the ninth and earned his 39th save in 39 chances this season.
The Orioles fell behind early but rode fifth-inning homers from Manny Machado and Steve Pearce to a 3-1 lead.
Machado's home run was the 100th of his career. and he became the youngest Oriole to reach that mark and 24 years, 55 days.
Pearce homered in his second consecutive game. He hit a solo shot Sunday during a 5-0 victory over the Yankees in New York.
Toronto tied it at 3-3 in the seventh when Michael Saunders hit a two-run homer off Baltimore starter Ubaldo Jimenez.
Jimenez allowed three runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings. J.A. Happ turned in a similar effort for the Blue Jays but also came away with a no-decision. Happ allowed three runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Kevin Pillar gave the Jays a 1-0 lead in the second with a two-out bloop single to center. He drove in Michael Saunders, who had doubled.
Baltimore wasted several early scoring chances. The Orioles put runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings but came up empty until Pearce tied the game with his one-out solo homer in the fifth.
Two batters later, Machado lined his two-run shot to left-center for a 3-1 Orioles lead.
NOTES: The Orioles did not start CF Adam Jones for a fourth consecutive game due to a strained left hamstring. Manager Buck Showalter said the team's being careful with him because they don't want Jones to have another issue and be sidelined for the rest of the season. ... RHP Chris Tillman will throw off flat ground again Wednesday and hopefully make it to the mound by the weekend, Showalter said. Tillman is not expected to return when he's first eligible on Sept. 9. ... OF Julio Borbon and RHP Logan Ondrusek were outrighted by the Orioles to Double-A Bowie. ... 3B Josh Donaldson became the only third baseman in Toronto history to hit 30 or more homers in more than one season. He hit his 30th on Monday night.