Davis powers Orioles past Blue Jays
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On Wednesday, Adrian Beltre's three home runs were the Baltimore Orioles' downfall. However, on Friday, Chris Davis' three homers proved to be the difference in a 6-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Davis homered in his first three at-bats, knocking in four runs and becoming the 19th Oriole to belt three home runs in a game.
With his first career three-homer game, Davis established a new career high with 23 home runs on the season.
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Meanwhile, Zach Britton (3-1) prolonged Toronto's offensive struggles. He held the Blue Jays to two runs on four hits with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings as the O's took the opener of a three-game set.
Carlos Villanueva (6-4) was charged with Toronto's sixth straight loss after giving up four runs, including two of Davis' homers, in 5 2/3 frames.
The Toronto Blue Jays activated outfielder Jose Bautista before the game, hoping the slugger would resuscitate a breathless offense that had scored less than four runs in its previous seven games. But Bautista went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts.
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After Edwin Encarnacion laced a double into the left-field gap to lead off the second inning, the Blue Jays scored first. Kelly Johnson flipped a base hit to left field, giving Toronto the game's first run.
Davis tied the game in the bottom half of the second. He jumped on a first- pitch fastball and crushed it onto Eutaw Street, located beyond right field.
In the fourth, Davis put the Orioles ahead with another solo homer. He drove a 2-2 curveball over the right-center-field fence to put the Orioles up, 2-1.
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The Orioles picked up three insurance runs in the sixth inning. Nate McLouth delivered a one-out single and reached third on an Adam Jones double. Matt Wieters lofted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate McLouth.
Toronto brought in Steve Delabar to face Davis with Jones on second, but Davis greeted the right-hander with an opposite-field home run to left field, giving the Orioles a 5-1 lead.
Toronto picked up a run in the seventh when Rajai Davis' double scored Mike McCoy, who reached on a one-out walk, but the O's quickly responded.
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In the bottom half of the seventh, Ryan Flaherty led off with a single. Robert Andino, pinch running for Flaherty, reached second on a wild pitch and third on a groundout. Nick Markakis plated Andino with a long flyout to center field.
Chris Davis struck out in his fourth and final at-bat in the eighth inning against Brad Lincoln.
Jeff Mathis blasted a two-run home run to left-center field to bring the Blue Jays within two runs in the ninth, but Jim Johnson entered and recorded the final three outs to nail down his 39th save.
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Game Notes
The Orioles, who lost 12-3 against Texas on Wednesday, became the first team in major league history to be involved in back-to-back games which featured a three-homer performance ... Markakis was the last Oriole to hit three home runs in a game when he did so on August 22, 2006 against the Minnesota Twins ... No Oriole has ever hit four home runs in a game ... Johnson's first home run gave him a record nine homers that reached Eutaw Street this season, surpassing the previous mark of eight ... Villanueva lost his fourth straight decision.