Josh Rogers wins his MLB debut as O's top Toronto (with Rogers quotes)

Left-hander Josh Rogers made a successful major league debut at Camden Yards tonight. He went five innings to get a 12-5 win over Toronto. And an Oriole team that entered this series 1-12 this season against the Blue Jays is 2-0 in this series.

Rogers, called up from Triple-A Norfolk, became the first lefty to start on the mound this year for the Orioles. Over five innings he gave up seven hits and three runs with one walk and two strikeouts. Acquired by the Orioles from the Yankees in the Zach Britton trade, Rogers threw 85 pitches, 54 for strikes, in winning his debut.

His start tonight ended a streak of 134 consecutive games started by Oriole right-handers since Wade Miley took the mound Sept. 29, 2017. Rogers became the 12th Oriole to make his big league debut this year, the most since 2012 and tied for second-most in club history, behind the 14 of 1955.

Rogers threw a combined 53 two- and four-seam fastballs (with 45 four-seamers) that ranged often from 90 to 92 mph. Of his secondary pitches, he used his slider the most, throwing it 21 times tonight. He gave up just one hit on 39 pitches through three innings before Toronto scored off him in the next two innings.

The Orioles sure backed him with some run support tonight against Toronto lefty Thomas Pannone. They led 1-0 after one, 5-0 after three and 7-1 at the end of four innings. Trey Mancini doubled with two outs in the home first and scored on a Chris Davis single for a 1-0 lead.

The middle of the order got it done again two innings later. Mancini tripled, this time with one out. He would score when Adam Jones lifted a soft single into center field. Following Davis' second single of the night, Tim Beckham blasted a three-run homer to left-center. The 2-0 lead expanded to 5-0. Beckham hit No. 9 on a 1-0 changeup that he blasted 415 feet.

Pannone's night ended an inning later when Craig Gentry hit a two-run homer to left with one out for a 7-1 lead. It was Gentry's first homer of the 2018 season.

Last Wednesday at Rogers Centre, Pannone allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings against the Orioles and took a no-hitter to the seventh. Tonight, over 3 1/3 innings he gave up nine hits and seven runs and allowed two homers on 67 pitches.

Toronto pulled within 7-3 against Rogers in the fifth when Justin Smoak hit his 20th homer on a 3-2 slider for a two-run shot. An inning earlier, Toronto scored its first run, making it 5-1 on Kevin Pillar's RBI single. But Rogers did a nice job there to strand the bases loaded. He struckout Aledmys Díaz on a down-and-in slider on a 1-2 pitch.

The 7-3 lead expanded to 9-3 in the Baltimore fifth when right-hander Joe Biagini started the inning by hitting Beckham and then Renato Núñez. They later scored on singles by Jonathan Villar and Gentry. A three-run eighth completed the O's scoring as Mancini hit a sac fly and Davis knocked a two-run double. Jones had four hits to tie his career high for the 22nd time. The Orioles went 9-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles have produced 19 runs on 28 hits in the first two games of this series. They had scored just five runs last week in three games at Toronto and scored just 17 runs during their eight-game losing streak that was ended last night.

The Orioles can sweep this three-game series on Wednesday night when right-hander Alex Cobb (4-15, 5.00 ERA) faces Toronto lefty Ryan Borucki (3-3, 4.12 ERA).

Postgame quotes

Rogers had nerves throughout today: "I can't even lie. I woke up sick this morning and I was pretty nervous all day. Got to go to lunch with my family. Dad, Mom, grandparents, sister, girlfriend, so it was really good to get away from it a little bit and stop thinking about it. But really, when I started to play catch in the outfield everything just settled in, and it didn't feel like another night, but was just trying to throw strikes."

Rogers on the outing and first MLB win: "I couldn't have drawn it up any better. Got some good run support early, and pitching with run support makes it a heck of a lot easier, especially in a debut like that. Just tried to go out and pound the zone and let the defense work behind me. They did a great job tonight."

Rogers on a large rooting section he had in the stands: "Oh man, I got my mom, dad, sister, brother, girlfriend, grandma, grandpa. I got two pitching coaches, my high school pitching coach and my college pitching coach. I got friends from Atlanta. I got friends from southern Indiana that drove here. Probably had 30 people here tonight, at least. I can't thank those people enough, and I got people back home. A couple of sports bars (in Indiana) had extra service people tonight to watch the game. I think they bought the MLB package to watch it. All those people and the support from my hometown has been incredible. I can't wait to look at my phone to see what my friends had to say about tonight."

Did Rogers have any idea he would be traded last month?: "I had no idea. I was charting a game and was supposed to start the next night. We went to a rain delay. Everyone was on their phone on Twitter and it broke that Dillon Tate was going to be traded for Zach Britton. I texted Dillon - I'm really close with him - and said, 'Hey man, I'd like to go with you.' Just joking around. I know I'm not getting traded. I'm starting tomorrow. And then 10 minutes later kept scrolling on Twitter. You guys find out everything before we do. Saw my name pop up. Cody (Carroll), we were both sitting next to each other. We were like, 'My gosh, this is going to happen.' It was pretty cool. It was mixed emotions. To be drafted by the Yankees and get the opportunity to play professional baseball, I'm grateful forever for that. The friendships and all that is one thing, but to have an opportunity to pitch in the big leagues tonight was a dream come true."

Gentry on homering in Rogers debut and him winning tonight: "Yeah, it's awesome. I think he went out there and did a great job. For his first game, he kept himself really composed and pitched well. Like you said, I don't hit a lot of those, so they're all special. All seven of them. He came up and he showed us a lot. I think he's got a bright future ahead of him. He came out and got himself out of a couple of jams and battled and pitched a great game for us. Luckily, we were able to get some runs on the board for him and help him relax."