Orioles shut out for third time with 5-0 loss (updated)

Randal Grichuk chased a split-change from Alex Cobb tonight in the first inning, the ball diving toward the dirt, shook his head and walked back to the dugout.

He looked mortal. Just a guy striking out in a major league game. Nothing to see here, except the Orioles actually kept him in the ballpark.

The on-field ceremony was canceled with no fans in attendance to see it.

Manager Brandon Hyde had Cole Sulser pitch to Grichuk in the 10th inning last night because of the guy on deck. The guy who already homered and doubled.

The guy who gave the Blue Jays an early lead tonight.

Vladimir Guerrero's two-run single off Cobb in the first put the Jays ahead. And there were no late rallies, extra innings or rewrites. The Orioles stayed down and lost 5-0 to extend their streak to four games in a row.

The Blue Jays have moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the Orioles, who are 14-18 and have lost 10 of their last 12. They were shut out for the third time.

"I thought today was the first time where we looked like a tired team and we have been through a lot this season and it's emotionally draining," Hyde said in his Zoom conference call. "I think we're physically tired, too, and we're emotionally tired. It's not really an excuse. We have to come back at 3:07 tomorrow and play a Major League Baseball game and I think our guys are going to be ready for it. But tonight, that was the first time when our bats looked slow. We showed more frustration offensively, and once we got down it was kind of empty at-bats. A couple tried to get us going, but it just wasn't happening tonight.

"It's just been a lot this year and it's way different, playing in quiet stadiums where you have to bring your own energy every single night and we've done that. I'm proud of how our guys handled that. So tonight was the first time in a while I feel like where I haven't at least said, 'Hey, if we tie this, let's get so and so going.' Or, 'If we make this close, let's get so and so up.' I feel like I've said that every single game. But tonight was just not our best effort and I feel like our guys looked exhausted."

"It feels like two Augusts combined into one," Cobb said. "Everybody we talk to emotionally and physically is just drained. This year has taken a toll on everybody. It's something that were we're all learning how to deal with each and every single day together, and I think once you start going on this little losing streak, it weighs on you even more. But it definitely doesn't feel like we're 30 games into a season and we're fresh and we're good. It feels like we're in game No. 230 right now."

Grichuk hit five home runs against the Orioles in the first four games this season and had 17 in 34 career games before tonight. He walked off a 5-4 10-inning win last night by driving Sulser's hanging slider over the center field fence with two outs and first base open.

Why pitch to Grichuk?

It isn't an ego or pride thing, as Hyde insisted earlier today. He picked his poison, choosing Grichuk over Guerrero, who stood on the on-deck circle with a 10-game hitting streak.

"We were pitching him extremely well yesterday and Cole just left a slider that kind of backed up right in the middle part of the plate," Hyde said this afternoon. "He executes the slider down and away, if he executes a pitch there, we're not having this conversation. (Grichuk) has hurt us. There's no doubt about it. But I think Suls will tell you that was just a poor pitch in a situation.

"Hey, listen, it's not like I didn't think about it. But I also thought about Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who hits right-handed pitchers better so far this year, who hit three balls on the nose against us last night, as well as an opposite-field homer and then a rocket to left and a rocket to right. Do I want to put the winning run on first base with a guy that's a .240 career hitter and face Guerrero, or do I let the guy face Sulser, who just got five outs in a row and is throwing the ball great?"

Guerrero's streak began in the Blue Jays' final game in Baltimore on Aug. 19. He went 1-for-12 in the series and was slashing .222/.292/.383.

Cobb retired the first two batters tonight, but he walked Rowdy Tellez, Teoscar Hernández singled, Anthony Santander committed an error and Guerrero improved his average to .270 with an .831 OPS, his single reaching the left field fence

Grichuk led off the third inning with a single to right field, but Santander threw him out at second base. Guerrero led off the fourth with a single, moved to third base when Hanser Alberto couldn't handle Travis Shaw's scorching ground ball and scored on Derek Fisher's grounder.

Alberto threw to second for the force, but the ball popped out of José Iglesias' glove. The Orioles should have gotten a double play, or perhaps Iglesias was considering a throw home.

Joe Panik doubled and Cavan Biggio drove in two runs with a long single that increased the lead to 5-0.

Cobb issued a four-pitch walk to open the fifth and Hernández swung at a ball on his fists and punched a single into left field. Cobb threw his arms in the air in frustration, Hyde came to the mound and César Valdez made his first major league appearance since August 2017 with the Blue Jays.

"Just one of those days where warming up in the 'pen the ball isn't going where you want it to, the movement on the pitches isn't where you want it to and you know it's going to be kind of a battle and it was," Cobb said. "I left a lot of pitches up that got hit really hard and there just wasn't a lot of crispness to the pitches."

Valdez struck out Guerrero, throwing him four consecutive curveballs, and retired the next two batters on a fly ball and strikeout to strand both runners. He went exclusively with curveballs and changeups.

Cobb, a candidate to be traded at Monday's deadline, was charged with four earned runs (five total) and eight hits in four-plus innings. The box score showed two errors behind him, but there were other plays that could have been made.

Lots of hard contact and occasional lapses in the field.

"I thought they jumped on him there," Hyde said. "They're an aggressive hitting team and he left some pitches out over the plate. I didn't think he had his best split tonight. Hung a breaking ball to Guerrero, who's a first-pitch hacker. About chest-high that he hit off the wall. Just didn't think he executed pitches."

Hitting the pause button in the middle of his sidearm delivery, Valdez struck out four of the first six batters and tossed three scoreless innings. He fanned Grichuk with two outs in the sixth, but the ball skipped past Chance Sisco.

Not a single fastball from Valdez, according to Statcast. Lived in the 70s and 80s. But he allowed only one hit, walked one batter and struck out five.

"That was awesome to watch," Hyde said. "He was slipping and sliding it in there, changing speeds. Doing exactly what he was doing in spring training when we watched him briefly and in summer camp. I think that meant a lot to him. I got him out of the game because I'd like to use him sooner just because he's such a unique look and he throws strikes and he can make guys look silly and out in front. So that was the highlight of the night was handing him the ball and watching him wiggle out of that inning for Alex and then going two more scoreless innings after that with very little stress. That was fun for everybody to watch. The whole team was excited for him"

Taijuan Walker, making his first start for Toronto after Thursday's trade, shut out the Orioles on four hits over six innings.

Ryan Mountcastle went 0-for-4 and failed to reach base for the first time in seven major league games. He was 8-for-20 heading into tonight with two doubles and four walks, and was 3-for-7 after falling behind 1-2 in the count.

"I've been impressed," Hyde said. "I saw him in summer camp, I saw him in spring training and I've seen better at-bats right now. I like the ball being put in play with two strikes and Ryan has done that. I love the way he's getting down the line. I think he's showing more athleticism and more speed than I saw before. So for him to be able to take a breaking ball and drive it the other way for a single ...

"The power's going to come. I don't think anybody has any concerns about that. Ryan gets the barrel on the baseball with any sort of lift, it's going to be hit hard, it's going to go in the air over the fence. So he's now becoming a hitter and for him to take a breaking ball and go the other way and be able to put the ball in play with two strikes last night and make things happen, that's winning baseball and that's been really, really impressive."

Mountcastle grounded out in the fourth after Sisco walked. The Orioles stranded seven runners in the first five innings.

Santander singled with two outs in the fifth and Iglesias doubled for his fourth hit since coming off the injured list, but Renato Núñez flied out.

"That's part of the game of baseball. Unfortunately there are ups and downs," Santander said via translator Ramón Alarcón. "I think the most important thing is you have to stay positive, be positive all the time, have the right attitude, come to the ballpark with a positive attitude and good energy and just try to compete on the next day."

"It's always frustrating losing," Cobb said. "We've been a pretty streaky team and we've got a really tough schedule and this road trip especially it's going to be a grind and it has been. But I don't really relate it to the trade deadline. The vibe in the clubhouse and just coming to play the game each and every day when you're winning is so much fun than losing and right now it's just not that much fun when we're having a lot of tough losses."