Brandon Hyde and David Hess on his gem versus Toronto

TORONTO - Trey Mancini produced again at the plate, Richard Bleier struggled again on the mound and the Orioles won again. Those were almost afterthoughts tonight as the Orioles hung on in the ninth to beat Toronto 6-5 at Rogers Centre.

It was a night when a rookie manager felt he couldn't let a pitcher throwing a no-hitter finish the job or even the seventh inning. When right-hander David Hess got the first out of the Toronto seventh - a liner to short - it was his 82nd and last pitch of the night. Hess left with a 6-0 lead after throwing 6 1/3 no-hit innings.

Manager Brandon Hyde said that while Hess had reached a pitch count of 85 in spring training, the fact that Hess had thrown 42 pitches opening day and was working tonight on three days' rest factored into his thinking.

"We had a pitch count for him that we extended," Hyde said. "It was a tough game. We had a pitch count for our starter and I had three guys that I felt comfortable pitching in the ballgame. For David to go beyond that, and obviously then some, was incredible. But that was a terrible walk (to the mound to make a change). I hated to do it, but for David's health and one of, hopefully, 30-plus starts, it was the right thing to do.

"I wasn't thinking about it (even Toronto fans booing the change), to be honest with you. I've seen it before, so probably. But I have appreciation for it. If I was sitting there watching, I'd probably want to have the guy stay in there also, because I know how cool it is to see it. I've been in the dugout for two of them, so yeah, it wasn't fun for anybody."

Hess walked one and fanned a career-high eight. He was rolling from the start, throwing nine pitches in the first inning, seven in the second and 12 in the third. He was at 61 through five and his fastball had extra life, averaging 93.8 mph, per Statcast, and topping at 95.8.

Hess said he understand the tough spot his manager was in.

"I think the biggest thing is that he cares about us a lot," Hess said. "It's hard as a player and, I'm sure, harder as a manager to pull a guy for the thought process of keeping him healthy and his well-being. So I have a ton of respect for him in the short time we've been together. He makes decisions that are based on the longevity of a player. He's not thinking what is good right now but is thinking ahead and wants to take care of us. Biggest thing is he cares about each individual guy in this clubhouse and us as a team, and that really shows."

Despite those comments, Hess was honest enough to admit he was surprised when he saw Hyde coming to the mound to bring in Pedro Araujo.

"I was shocked because I knew my pitch count was decently low," Hess said. "And so really, just kind of trying to figure out more what was going on. When he came out, it was him basically saying throwing 40 pitches the other day and trying to keep health the primary thing. Knowing that it's a long season. I could tell that he was fighting against himself a little bit. I think the excitement was there. But a lot of respect towards him. Just having that mindset and thought process, that means a lot to me."

The combined no-hit bid ended on Araujo's second hitter. After Araujo walked Justin Smoak, Randal Grichuk homered to left to get Toronto on the board.

Hyde, of course was impressed with Hess, who has now thrown 8 1/3 scoreless innings for the year. He has a career ERA of 0.71 in four games versus Toronto.

"He was ahead of almost every hitter," Hyde said. "He got early swings. I thought all of his pitches were working. He was hitting 95 [mph] a lot, with a really good breaking ball and the split-change. Just not a lot of hard contact, because he was working ahead in the count with so many defensive swings. Just incredible."

Hess gave a lot of credit to catcher Jesús Sucre for calling a strong game. The battery mixed his pitches well. Hess said that when he walked Billy McKinney to lead off the fourth - the only batter to reach against him - he looked for another gear and found it. His fastball averaged 94.4 mph that inning as he struck out the next three batters.

But he didn't get to finish the job for reasons detailed here, and the four-pitcher no-hitter by the Orioles against Oakland on July 13, 1991 remains the last no-hitter in team history.

The Orioles won at Rogers Centre tonight for the first time since Sept. 13, 2017 after going 0-10 last year in Toronto. They improved to 3-1. Jonathan Villar hit a two-run homer in the Orioles' four-run first. Mancini went 2-for-3 with his second homer in two days and is batting .500.

Toronto scored twice in the seventh, once in the eighth and twice in the ninth before a struggling Bleier got the final out to wrap up the club's third straight win.