TORONTO -- Manager Cito Gaston offered some wisdom to Lyle Overbay just before the Blue Jays first baseman went to bat in the 11th inning.
"He came up to me and said don't be afraid to get your 20th," Overbay said. "I said, 'all right."'
Two fastballs from Orioles left-hander Mark Hendrickson later, Overbay had his 20th homer of the season, a walkoff dinger over the right-field fence that gave Toronto a 5-4 victory over Baltimore on Saturday.
It was the fourth Blue Jay homer of the game -- Aaron Hill, Travis Snider and Edwin Encarnacion each connected against Oriole starter Jeremy Guthrie.
Left-hander David Purcey (1-1) pitched an inning to complete a solid game by the bullpen and pick up the win before 21,504 at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays have won the first two games of the three-game series.
Leading off the bottom of the 11th, Overbay swung and missed the first fastball that was up in the zone from Hendrickson (1-6), a former Blue Jay. He didn`t miss the second one.
"He missed his spot and threw it in the middle of the plate," said Overbay, who at first wasn`t sure it was going to go all the way. "The way it's been going, I was helping it. I got it but it was not one of those things where it was 100 per cent sure. As soon as I saw (right-fielder Nick) Markakis running back a little bit more, I said I think I got it."
The Blue Jays lead the majors in home runs and are three away from equalling the club record of 244 set in 2000.
"It's just fun to be a part of," Overbay said. "It's ridiculous. I've never been on a team like this that consistently just hit homers. That's what we do, homers, doubles and strikeouts."
Jose Bautista wasn't able to add to his league-leading homer total, but he did chip in with some good defensive play. He made a diving catch on Adam Jones in the fifth before throwing to first and catching Ty Wigginton in an inning-ending double play.
"Certainly that was a run right there if he doesn't catch that ball," Gaston said.
"It's in the gap, that's what I first thought about it," Romero said. "He hit it pretty good. You just see Jose kind of come out of nowhere and dive and make absolutely a tremendous catch. It just shows you the type of season the guy's having. (Friday) he does it with the bat (two home runs) and today he helps us with the glove."
Bautista also caused a stir in the crowd when he hit a foul ball out of the park to the left of home plate in the sixth.
"We were watching it," Overbay said. "It's ridiculous. I couldn't do it if I tried. I couldn't even do it with my 9-iron, I don`t think."
Guthrie allowed seven hits, including the three homers, in 6 1/3 innings.
Romero was denied a chance to win his 14th game of the season. He allowed three runs in five innings before left-hander Brian Tallet replaced him in the sixth inning. Romero allowed five hits and equalled his season high with five walks.
The walks were particularly damaging in a three-run second. Romero walked three consecutive batters -- two with the bases loaded -- as Baltimore got out to a 3-0 lead. A Brandon Snyder double pushed the first run across.
Third baseman Encarnacion, an erratic fielder, helped the Orioles cause when with two on and none out he bobbled a potential double-play grounder from Nolan Reimold and as a result got only the force at second.
Hill's 25th homer with two out in the second was Toronto's first hit of the game. Snider hit his 11th the next inning to cut the lead to 3-2.
The Blue Jays tied it in the sixth on Overbay's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. That scored Snider.
Casey Janssen was brought into the game with one out in the seventh and he gave up Wigginton's 22nd homer of the season with a full count.
Romero didn't want to come out after five.
"He struggled as far as his pitch count," Gaston said. "But in the end he started to pitch again. Of course, he didn't want to come out. As I told him, 'I don't want to take you out, either, but you're going to pitch a long time and we don't want to hurt your arm."'
The Blue Jays pitchers have been on a six-man rotation in the season's final month to preserve the young arms and it means extra time between starts.
"I hate it," said Romero who has reached a career-high 202 innings. "As a starter you get used to your routine going every five days. It's something I don't like, but you`ve got to deal with it. You understand where they're coming from trying to protect us, we're young and this and that but it`s your routine and you kind of get thrown off."
Notes: Shaun Marcum (12-8, 3.88 ERA) will start Sunday's series finale against Rick VandenHurk (0-0, 4.38 ERA) ... The Blue Jays have set a club record with 140 homers this season at Rogers Centre. They hit 134 in 2000 ... Toronto is just three homers shy of the franchise-best mark of 244. The Jays continue to lead the major leagues.
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