Orioles at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays try to maintain their newfound perch atop the American League East as they vie for a three-game sweep of the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Toronto and Baltimore switched places in the AL East standings after the Blue Jays rolled to a 9-1 victory Saturday to take a half-game lead with its fifth victory in six games while handing the Orioles their season high-matching fifth consecutive loss.
Toronto (59-45) trailed Baltimore by 5 1/2 games July 1 before winning 16 of its next 22 contests, outscoring opponents 132-81 during that span. "There's still a lot of baseball left, but I feel we're starting to play good ball," Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin told reporters. The Orioles, who spent 99 of the season's 119 days in first place, have yielded 45 runs while losing five of six games in Toronto this season. The Blue Jays' Aaron Sanchez has won his last 10 decisions, including two versus Baltimore, and opposes Chris Tillman, a 14-game winner who struggles against Toronto -- especially at the Rogers Centre where he is 2-6 with a 7.94 ERA in 11 starts.
TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore), SportsNet-1 (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Chris Tillman (14-3, 3.47 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Aaron Sanchez (11-1, 2.72)
Tillman had his four-start winning streak snapped when he allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings of a 6-3 loss to Colorado on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Californian allowed one run in seven innings in each of his prevous four turns, with three of the victories coming on the road. Kevin Pillar (.350 in 20 at-bats), Edwin Encarnacion (.302, 53) and Jose Bautista (.262, 42) have hit three home runs apiece versus Tillman, who is 5-10 with a 5.71 ERA in 22 starts versus Toronto.
Sanchez yielded three hits and two walks while striking out seven in seven scoreless innings of a 4-2 victory over San Diego on Monday. The 24-year-old Californian, who leads the AL with 16 quality starts, permitted two earned runs or fewer in seven straight starts and in nine of his last 10. Chris Davis (6-for-12, three home runs, four walks) fares well against Sanchez, who is 3-2 with a 5.34 ERA in 10 games (five starts) against Baltimore after winning twice in successive starts in June.
WALK-OFFS
1. Encarnacion is 4-for-8 with a home run, two doubles and three runs scored in the two games versus Baltimore while driving in a pair to increase his major league-leading RBI total to 89.
2. The Orioles (58-45) are 21-29 on the road and have dropped seven of their last eight such contests.
3. Pillar matched a career high with four RBIs on Saturday and is 8-for-19 with eight RBIs and five doubles in his last five games.