Mark Trumbo's bat heats up, plus minor league playoffs news

Mark Trumbo produced his ninth career walk-off hit yesterday, his line drive single to left in the 12th lifting the Orioles to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Perhaps that hit and some hits in recent games means Trumbo's bat may be coming around down the stretch. He went 3-for-6 Sunday and also hit his 21st homer. In the four-game series he went 8-for-20 with a homer and four RBIs. Trumbo said he's made some good contact up the middle in recent days and feels that's a good sign for him.

"That's a positive," he said. "That was something I was working on the other day. It starts translating in the game. I need to do a few things a little bit differently, and I've been trying to do so and today and the series were pretty good for me."

Trumbo is batting .357 (15-for-42) his last 10 games and .333 (16-for-48) when batting seventh, as he did yesterday.

The Orioles were 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position until Trumbo's single scored Jonathan Schoop from second base to end Sunday's game.

"I don't think anyone really noticed," Trumbo said. "It didn't feel like we were coming through all that often, but we don't dissect it like that. You just do what you can. When you get the opportunity, then you want to come through."

The Orioles keep coming through in extra innings with wins in the Toronto series in 13 and 12 innings. Three of their last nine wins have come in extra innings, where they have MLB's best record at 12-2 (.857).

Why is the team so good in extras?

"Because we never give up," Schoop said. "We can be down five, 10, whatever, we are thinking we can come back. We believe in each other. We keep fighting to the end."

The Orioles have a combined 3.07 team ERA and have outscored their opposition 23-10 in extra innings for the season.

Orioles right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis, added to the roster on Friday, has been the winning pitcher in those last two extra-innings games. Yacabonis pitched two scoreless on 21 pitches. First baseman Chris Davis made a nice play that led to a double play to help Yacabonis in the 11th and then he pitched a 1-2-3 12th. His fastball touched 97 mph.

"He'll be the first to tell you, Chris (made a huge play)," manager Buck Showalter said of Yacabonis. "That's another thing up here at the major league level that guys should get a little more comfortable about - attacking the strike zone with quality pitches down.

"You're pitching to not, even though that was quality contact. I thought the second inning knocked some of the anxiety off. There's a difference between being afraid and having anxiety. Yacabonis isn't afraid, and (Miguel) Castro's not. That's a thing you look for. I've got a feeling that (Richard) Rodríguez has got that, too. We'll see."

The Orioles bullpen allowed just three hits and one run over eight innings Sunday. Zach Britton had a two-inning outing for the second time in three days. He's thrown 53 pitches in those games and likely will not be available at least today as the series with the Yankees starts.

On the down side for the pitching, starter Chris Tillman has allowed 13 runs over 14 2/3 his past three starts. He was frustrated yesterday that twice in two tries he walked No. 9 hitter Richard Urena.

"I rarely ever in my career try to purposely walk somebody with few exceptions," Tillman said. "But especially that guy. You've got to get after that guy, especially with the guys coming up behind him. You've got to take care of the lower part of the lineup to have it translate to a good game as opposed to a short start."

But it was another short start of four innings plus two batters. Tillman's ERA is 7.85 and he has just three quality starts in 18 outings.

The Orioles now have 11 walk-off wins and they have been beaten in walk-off fashion just three times.

This afternoon the Orioles begin a series against the Yankees (73-63). New York is 7-5 versus the Orioles this year and the Orioles team ERA is 7.79 in those games. Aaron Judge is batting .475 (19-for-40) against the Orioles with four doubles, eight homers and 16 RBIs.

The Orioles are tied with the Angels and both are 1 1/2 games back of Minnesota for the second AL wild card. They trail New York by 3 1/2 games for the first AL wild card.

Frederick is in: The Single-A Frederick Keys will join Double-A Bowie in the minor league playoffs that begin on Wednesday night. Frederick swept a doubleheader last night but before Game 1 ended Frederick clinched a playoff berth with a Salem loss. It is the Keys first Carolina League playoff berth since a Keys team led by Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop won the 2011 league championship.

The Keys swept Potomac by 10-4 and 2-0 scores. In the second game, the trio of Matthew Grimes, Luis Gonzalez and Mike Burke combined to shut out the Nationals. Grimes allowed five hits over five innings to get the win.

Frederick hosts Lynchburg Wednesday and Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the playoffs in the opening games of a best-of-five series.

Bowie (72-67) and Richmond split a doubleheader on Sunday evening as Richmond took game 1, 6-5 score before the Baysox bounced back with a 1-0 win in game 2. Bowie sits one game back of Altoona for first place with one to play. The Baysox can clinch the division with a win and an Altoona loss to Harrisburg on Monday on the final day of the regular season. Whether they finish first or second, Bowie will be in the Eastern League playoffs.

Tanner Scott, Jesus Liranzo and Scott McGough combined for the shutout in the nightcap, as Scott pitched two innings, Liranzo four and McGough one.

When Bowie outfielder DJ Stewart stole second in the sixth inning of the second game, it was his 20th stolen base of the year. With 21 home runs and 20 steals, Stewart is the first player in Bowie franchise history to post a 20-20 season.

Short season Single-A Aberdeen beat Staten Island 2-1 Sunday to stay in the playoff hunt in the New York-Penn League. With four games to play, Aberdeen (40-32) is three games out in its division and 1 ½ games back for a wild card spot.