Baltimore, MD – J.P. Arencibia hit a seventh-inning grand slam, Edwin Encarnacion added a two-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays downed the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5, on Monday in the nightcap of a doubleheader from Camden Yards.
In the opener, Steve Johnson tossed five scoreless innings while Adam Jones and Ryan Flaherty both homered for a 4-1 Orioles win.
Toronto, led by Arencibia's three-hit, five-RBI effort, never trailed in the second installment. Moises Sierra added a solo homer to help the Blue Jays earn a split and halt a seven-game slide.
Ricky Romero (9-14) allowed four runs on eight hits over five-plus innings in his first win since June 22. The left-hander had been 0-13 in his previous 15 starts.
The AL wild card-leading Orioles loaded the bases four times but managed just two runs in those scenarios. With the loss, they fell 1 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for the top spot in the AL East. The Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins, 6-3, on Monday.
Wei-Yin Chen (12-10) gave up five runs on nine hits over five-plus innings in the loss. The rookie is 0-3 in his last six starts.
Robert Andino had a two-run single in the setback, while Nate McLouth belted a solo homer and J.J. Hardy had a bases-loaded RBI single off Brad Lincoln in the sixth, which cut Baltimore's deficit to 5-4.
With the bases still packed, Lincoln struck out Jones before Chris Davis lofted a fly ball to left field. Anthony Gose recorded the out, then fired to Arencibia at home on one hop to retire a sliding Taylor Teagarden and end the inning.
In the seventh, the Toronto catcher made it 9-4 when he blasted a 2-1 slider into the first row in left field off Jake Arrietta, who entered an inning earlier and struck out three straight to leave runners on the corners.
The Blue Jays preceded Arencibia's slam with a walk and a pair of singles before first baseman Mark Reynolds forced Encarnacion out at home on Sierra's grounder.
In the ninth, the Orioles loaded the bases on three straight singles off Casey Janssen, but they managed just one run on Reynolds' double-play grounder.
The Blue Jays took a permanent lead in the first inning when Encarnacion followed Brett Lawrie's walk with his 41st homer of the season. They extended their advantage to 4-0 an inning later on a sacrifice fly by Arencibia and an RBI single by Gose.
Andino's base hit through the left side of the infield made it 4-2 in the bottom half after one-out singles by Reynolds and Manny Machado and a sacrifice bunt placed runners in scoring position.
The Orioles loaded the bases later in the frame but Gose snared Hardy's line drive in the gap to limit the damage.
McLouth homered to begin the fifth -- another inning in which Baltimore loaded the bases with two down, this time ending with Endy Chavez's groundout.
Sierra led off the sixth with a shot to left-center for a 5-3 lead.
Game Notes
The Blue Jays are 2-14 in Romero's last 16 starts ... Chen faced the Blue Jays for the first time in his career ... Toronto infielder Omar Vizquel went 2- for-5 with a double to tie Mel Ott for 40th on the all-time hit lists (2,876).
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