Tillman Hit Hard, Blue Jays Beat Orioles 7-6
TORONTO (AP) -- Chris Tillman will happily go a long time before facing the Blue Jays again.
Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer, Drew Hutchison pitched eight strong innings and Toronto completed a three-game sweep of Baltimore, beating Tillman and the Orioles 7-6 on Thursday night.
Tillman (2-2) allowed seven runs and five hits in 4 1-3 innings. He's 0-2 with an 18.00 ERA in two starts against Toronto.
"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."
Tillman's past two outings against the Blue Jays are the only starts in his past 24 in which he's allowed more than four runs.
"Chris is capable of better," manager Buck Showalter said.
In his past five starts against Toronto, Tillman has allowed 28 earned runs in 25 2-3 innings.
"My command killed me," the right-hander said. "I made some good pitches and also made some really bad ones. When you're falling behind a team like this consistently, you're putting them on the offensive instead of the defensive."
The Orioles have lost four straight, matching their longest losing streak of 2014. Baltimore had three four-game losing streaks en route to the AL East crown last season, one in April and two in May.
"We're already putting it behind us," Showalter said of a 2-5 road trip through Boston and Toronto. "You have to."
Hutchison (2-0) was perfect through five innings before Manny Machado drilled a first-pitch homer in the sixth.
"He was being aggressive so I was going up there being aggressive," Machado said. "I wasn't trying to hit a homer, I was just trying to make some good contact."
Machado added a three-run drive off Miguel Castro in the ninth. It was the third multihomer game of his career.
Hutchison allowed two runs and four hits, walked none and struck out a season-high seven in the longest outing by a Blue Jays starter this season.
"He was sticking it pretty good tonight," manager John Gibbons said of Hutchison. "He really gave us what we needed."
Machado said Hutchison succeeded by staying in the strike zone.
"He was throwing a lot of strikes," Machado said. "He was commanding his sliders, he was throwing his fastball well."
Castro got the final two outs for his fourth save.
Rookie Devon Travis opened the scoring with a fielder's choice grounder in the third and Donaldson followed with a drive off the facing of the third deck in left, his fourth.
The Blue Jays added three more in the fourth. Danny Valencia doubled home a run and Kevin Pillar hit a two-run double that bounced off the third base bag.
Tillman left after issuing a one-out walk to Justin Smoak in the fifth. Russell Martin greeted reliever Brad Brach with an RBI double to make it 7-0.
Travis Snider hit a fielder's choice grounder in the seventh and an RBI single off Liam Hendriks in the ninth.
RICHLY DESERVED
Baltimore's longtime head athletic trainer, Richie Bancells, is away from the team for two days to receive the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Eastern Kentucky University. Bancells is in his 39th year with the Orioles organization, his 28th as head trainer.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: 2B Ryan Flaherty was held out of the lineup with a sore right groin, suffered on the final play of Wednesday's game. With 2B Jonathan Schoop (right knee) and SS J.J. Hardy (left shoulder) already on the disabled list, the Orioles have limited options in the middle infield. Manager Buck Showalter said Flaherty could land on the DL if his condition doesn't improve.
Blue Jays: OF Jose Bautista (right shoulder) missed his second straight game but was feeling much better Thursday and is unlikely to require a stint on the DL. Manager John Gibbons said Bautista will likely DH for a couple of days upon his return to the lineup.
UP NEXT
Orioles: Baltimore returns home Friday to begin a three-game series against Boston. Orioles RH Miguel Gonzalez (2-1) faces Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (1-2) in the opener. Porcello allowed eight runs and 12 hits in five innings against Baltimore in his last start, raising his ERA from 3.86 to 6.63.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)