Brad Brach on ninth inning, Chris Tillman on his outing and Matt Wieters on O's offense

For the Orioles, it was frustrating to lose another game. For reliever Brad Brach, it was tough to make a good pitch in the ninth inning, but see the end result be that Toronto took the lead on that pitch.

Brach came in with the score tied 3-3 in the top of the ninth. He gave up two straight singles to Dioner Navarro and Kevin Pillar to get in immediate trouble. After a sac bunt, he got Justin Smoak to hit a slow roller to first base. Chris Davis probably didn't have time to get a runner out at the plate, but his throw home was high anyway as Toronto took a 4-3 lead on that fielder's choice.

"Yeah, it is frustrating," Brach said. "You do exactly what you want. You want him to hit a ground ball to first base there. He hit it slow enough to score the run. I got ahead of both Pillar and Navarro and was feeling good. You know, unfortunately they got hits there. The pitch to Pillar, I just have to be down a little bit more. Once you got first and second, obviously the sac bunt.

"Made the pitch to Smoak and he hit it just slow enough to score the run. They had some quick runners out there. Those first two hitters, I have to put them away when I'm ahead in the count."

Brach had gone 38 games since June 6 without taking a loss. But he falls to 5-3. He had been 2-0 with an ERA of 1.38 in 26 games since the All-Star break.

"They have one of the best records in the American League for a reason. One through nine, every guy can hit. You have to be focused every single pitch, every batter. They definitely keep the pressure on you," Brach said.

Chris Tillman had made five starts this year against Toronto and had given up 31 runs over 18 innings. He wanted another chance to face the Jays.

"I did. I did," Tillman said. "I wanted to get them. For the most part, it was pretty good tonight. Would have been better to come out with a W, but they're a good team and they never stop. I thought it was better. I was locating my off-speed stuff from the get-go and that is a big positive against this team."

Tillman does remain winless over his last eight starts against Toronto, going 0-6 with an ERA of 9.39. But he gave up just two runs over 7 1/3 tonight and he is trying for a strong finish.

"It's important. Everyone feels that way. I am not doing anything different. Just getting results I want right now. That comes with making good pitches. They're great. They're a good team. They've been a challenge all year for us," he said.

Matt Wieters felt Tillman had a strong 104-pitch outing tonight.

"I thought he commanded the zone very well. Thought his fastball command was very good and on top of that, he was able to mix and match with his off-speed. He was throwing everything for strikes and if they can't eliminate pitches, it gives you more chances. He can take that as a positive moving forward," Wieters said.

Toronto was able to score twice in the eighth with Darren O'Day on the mound to tie the game 3-3, with one run charged to Tillman.

"We felt good with Darren in there," Wieters said. "I thought he threw the ball well. There were a couple of ground balls that shot through the infield. They could have been inning-ending double plays and we would not be talking about this."

The Orioles had just four hits tonight, one was the three-run homer in the second by Ryan Flaherty. But after the homer, 23 of the last 24 Orioles were retired, including 17 straight to end the game. The team has scored in just one of its last 37 innings.

"We've faced some tough pitchers, but the other half of it is we need to be able that pitcher, when he is going well, a little uncomfortable. And he was really pounding the zone. When they make a mistake, you have to do damage," Wieters said.