Midseason trade acquisition Bud Norris makes his 11th and final start of the season with the Baltimore Orioles when they host the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle game of a three-game series at Camden Yards.
Norris was brought in from Houston for two players and a draft pick on July 31, in hopes that he would bolster the Orioles' pitching rotation as they pushed for an American League playoff spot.
Instead, the team skidded late and was officially eliminated from postseason contention on Tuesday night, when Mark DeRosa hit a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning after tying the game with one in the eighth - leading the Blue Jays to a 3-2 win. Baltimore's loss coupled with Cleveland's win over the White Sox left the O's six games behind the Indians for the second AL wild card slot with five games to play.
Jose Reyes scored the winning run on DeRosa's single after avoiding Francisco Rodriguez's pickoff attempt at second base. The throw from Rodriguez (2-1) arrived in plenty of time, but Reyes appeared to avoid Brian Roberts' tag with a good slide.
Sergio Santos (1-1) threw a perfect ninth to earn the win for Toronto and Casey Janssen worked around a single in the 10th to earn his 34th save. The Blue Jays snapped a two-game losing streak.
Chris Tillman had a career high-tying nine strikeouts for the fourth time in his last 10 starts and left with a 2-1 lead, but the Orioles couldn't hang on to get him his 17th win. He gave up one run, five hits and one walk in seven innings.
Todd Redmond gave up eight hits -- including back-to-back homers to Brian Roberts and Nate McLouth -- and two walks in 5 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays. He struck out two.
Norris has gone 4-3 in 10 starts with the Orioles, but has won just once since defeating Colorado on Aug. 17.
He last started on Sept. 8 and subsequently suffered elbow discomfort, which has kept him inactive outside of a 2 1/3-inning relief stint at Tampa Bay on Sept. 20.
Norris has never faced the Blue Jays.
In four career outings at Camden Yards, he's 2-1 with a bloated 7.40 earned run average in 20 2/3 innings of work.
For the Blue Jays, right-hander Esmil Rogers makes the 20th start of a season in which he's also appeared in relief 24 times.
It's the second start of his career against the Orioles, whom he faced on Sept. 14 in Toronto, where he got a no-decision after allowing five hits and three runs in six innings.
The Blue Jays won the game, 4-3.
In 21 road assignments this season, Rogers has a 4.16 ERA in 71 1/3 innings of work.
The Blue Jays and White Sox split the first six games they played in 2013, a year after Chicago won the season series, 6-4.
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