Cruz homers twice, including grand slam, as O's come from five down to beat Toronto
The wait for the Orioles to hit some homers ended tonight. That worked out well for Chris Tillman, who overcame one bad inning to get the victory.
Tillman became just the seventh pitcher in O's history to give up seven or more earned runs in a game and get the win as the Orioles beat Toronto 10-8 at the Rogers Centre.
The last time that happened, Koji Uehara was the winner on April 13, 2009.
The Orioles, who have blown a few leads lately, turned the tables this time coming from five runs down to win. After Toronto scored six runs off Tillman in the second to lead 6-1, the O's scored the game's next eight runs.
The Orioles matched the Blue Jays' six-run inning with one of their own. Their six-run fifth featured Nelson Cruz's seventh career grand slam.
Cruz, who hit a solo homer in the third, went 2-for-4 with his 11th two-homer game and five RBIs. Cruz has driven in at least one run in six-straight games and is the first Oriole to do that since Chris Davis from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, 2012. Cruz has three homers and eight RBIs in the first two games of this series.
Over his last six games, Cruz is batting .400 going 10-for-25 with four homers and 14 RBIs. He has 21 RBIs on the year.
Davis hit his second homer and Matt Wieters added his fourth solo shot for the Orioles. Their four homers tonight is a season high and matched their total for their previous 10 games.
In losing three of four to Toronto before tonight the Orioles had scored eight total runs on a batting average of .211.
Tillman, who was behind 6-1 in the second, settled down after the early big inning. He went 5 2/3 frames giving up nine hits and seven runs. He gave up three homers and is now 3-1 with an ERA of 3.38.
Toronto had one last shot to tie or win this in the ninth. Tommy Hunter came on and, with one out, gave up three straight singles to load the bases. Hunter then got Jonathan Diaz to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and pick up his sixth save in seven chances.
And finally, it was in the win column.
The Orioles are now 3-3 on this road trip, 9-8 against the American League East and 10-10 through 20 games. They'll wrap up this series and road trip tomorrow night at Rogers Centre.
Cruz, who hit a solo homer in the third, went 2-for-4 with his 11th two-homer game and five RBIs. Cruz has driven in at least one run in six-straight games and is the first Oriole to do that since Chris Davis from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, 2012. Cruz has three homers and eight RBIs in the first two games of this series.
Over his last six games, Cruz is batting .400 going 10-for-25 with four homers and 14 RBIs. He has 21 RBIs on the year.
Davis hit his second homer and Matt Wieters added his fourth solo shot for the Orioles. Their four homers tonight is a season high and matched their total for their previous 10 games.
In losing three of four to Toronto before tonight the Orioles had scored eight total runs on a batting average of .211.
Tillman, who was behind 6-1 in the second, settled down after the early big inning. He went 5 2/3 frames giving up nine hits and seven runs. He gave up three homers and is now 3-1 with an ERA of 3.38.
Toronto had one last shot to tie or win this in the ninth. Tommy Hunter came on and, with one out, gave up three straight singles to load the bases. Hunter then got Jonathan Diaz to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and pick up his sixth save in seven chances.
And finally, it was in the win column.
The Orioles are now 3-3 on this road trip, 9-8 against the American League East and 10-10 through 20 games. They'll wrap up this series and road trip tomorrow night at Rogers Centre.
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