TORONTO (AP) - The Baltimore Orioles could have used Manny Machado’s steady infield defense on Friday night.
Aledmys Diaz singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays recovered after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth to beat Baltimore 8-7, their fifth straight win over the struggling Orioles.
Diaz had four hits, including a solo homer, and scored twice as the Blue Jays improved to 7-1 against Baltimore.
The winning rally started with Russell Martin’s two-out single off left-hander Paul Fry (0-1) in the 10th. Martin reached when shortstop Tim Beckham’s throw pulled Chris Davis off the bag at first.
“I had a lot more time than I thought,” Beckham said. “That play has to be made every time.”
Randal Grichuk walked and Diaz followed with a grounder that ticked off the glove of third baseman Renato Nunez and rolled away from Beckham, allowing Martin to score.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Beckham, who moved back to shortstop after playing primarily at third base when Machado was with Baltimore. The Orioles traded Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.
Even Diaz didn’t have high hopes for his decisive hit.
“To be honest, I didn’t think it was going to get through,” Diaz said through a translator. “You’ve got to have breaks in this game and we got a big one there.”
John Axford (3-1) pitched one inning for the win.
Toronto led 7-4 through eight innings but Tyler Clippard couldn’t close the door in the ninth. Tret Mancini led off with a double, took third on an error and scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 7-5. One out later, Caleb Joseph homered to make it a one-run game. Clippard struck out Beckham for the second out, them surrendered a game-tying blast to Jonathan Schoop. It was the 100th homer of Schoop’s career.
The blown save was Clippard’s sixth in 12 opportunities.
“We clawed our way back into it, we just couldn’t get over the hump,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “Defense was a challenge and it caught up with us.”
Beckham and Davis each hit two-run homers for the Orioles, whose modest two-game winning streak was snapped. Baltimore is 9-18 in one-run games.
Toronto right-hander Sam Gaviglio set career highs by striking out eight in 7 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs and seven hits, leaving after Davis homered in the eighth. Seunghwan Oh came on and struck out Danny Valencia to end the inning.
Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy allowed five runs and five hits in five innings, remaining winless since returning from the 10-day disabled list after missing nearly two weeks because of a sprained left ankle.
“I didn’t really have much command of the heater today,” Bundy said.
FOLLOWING FROM AFAR
After the game, the televisions in Baltimore’s clubhouse were tuned to the Los Angeles-Milwaukee game from Miller Park, where Machado was making his Dodgers debut. Reliever Mychal Givens was among those watching closely.
BACK TO BACK
Martin and Grichuk hit back-to-back homers off Bundy in the fifth. It’s the third time this season the Blue Jays have hit consecutive homers.
HOME RUN REPORT
The Orioles allowed three or more home runs for the 15th time, the seventh-highest total in the majors. Baltimore lost for the first time in five games when hitting at least four home runs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: Baltimore designated RHP Chris Tillman for assignment to make room on the roster for Nunez, who was selected from Triple-A Norfolk. … RHP Andrew Cashner (neck) is expected to be activated off the 10-day sidled list to start Sunday’s series finale. Cashner last pitched July 10.
Blue Jays: RHP Marco Estrada (strained left gluteal muscle) threw a bullpen session Friday and is expected to come off the 10-day disabled list to start against Minnesota on Monday, manager John Gibbons said. … Toronto recalled INF Richard Urena from Triple-A Buffalo. He takes the roster spot of RHP Chris Rowley, who was demoted following Toronto’s final game before the All-Star break.
UP NEXT
Orioles RHP Alex Cobb (2-12, 6.41) faces Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman (2-7, 5.86) on Saturday afternoon. Cobb allowed season worsts of nine runs and 11 hits in a June 10 loss at Toronto. He’s 0-5 with a 6.69 ERA in seven starts since his most recent win, June 5 against the New York Mets. Stroman is 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA in five starts since returning from the disabled list on June 23. He missed more than a month because of a sore shoulder.
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