Music: {allcanada} BLUE JAYS, ORIOLES CLOSE OUT FOUR-GAME SET IN TORONTO

Sunday, May 26, 2013

{allcanada} BLUE JAYS, ORIOLES CLOSE OUT FOUR-GAME SET IN TORONTO

(Sports Network) - The Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays will close out a four-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre.

Baltimore captured its second straight win in the series on Saturday, holding on for a 6-5 victory. It got things started off quickly in the bottom of the first inning by putting up three runs and led rest of the way.

Adam Jones and Danny Valencia each homered for the second straight game. J.J. Hardy had two hits and two RBI, and Chris Davis knocked in another run to add to an RBI total that ranks second in the majors (46).

"I just see the ball good here," said Jones, who now has 11 career homers at Rogers Centre. "I don't think it's anything in particular. It's just baseball."

The Orioles' 68 home runs are the most in majors, with nine of those long balls coming in the first three games of this series.

Freddy Garcia (1-2) earned his first win in an Orioles' uniform, surrendering nine hits and two earned runs in five innings. Jim Johnson pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 15th save.

For the Blue Jays, R.A. Dickey's (4-6) disappointing season continued. He lasted 6 2/3 innings, but he was roughed up for nine hits and six runs, raising his ERA to 4.85 in the process.

"The journey is always ongoing but I certainly haven't felt like I did last year," Dickey said. "There's some concrete reasons for that and there's some reasons I need to iron out in the bullpen between outings."

Adam Lind and Jose Bautista each collected three hits for the home team, while Emilio Bonifacio belted his second home run of the year.

On Sunday, the Orioles will call on Miguel Gonzalez, who is 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA. He most recently had his strongest outing of the season, allowing five hits, no walks and two earned runs while striking out five in seven innings of work in a no-decision against the Yankees on May 21.

Despite his modest numbers, Gonzalez has been a consistently reliable cog in the Orioles' rotation. The right-hander has pitched into sixth inning in all seven starts and has yet to allow more than four earned runs in any outing.

Gonzalez earned one of his two wins against the Blue Jays back on April 23, yielding five hits and three earned runs over six innings.

Toronto will counter with Chad Jenkins, who was recalled in early May but has made just one appearance since. He made it count however, earning a win against the Red Sox on May 12, allowing two earned runs over five innings.

Jenkins began the season on the DL in the minors and made just one start at Double-A New Hampshire before his call to the big club. The 2009 first-round pick made 13 appearances for the Blue Jays in 2012, going 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA.

Baltimore took two of three from the Jays earlier in the year.