Adam Jones hits grand slam as O's complete sweep (with quotes)

For the third night in a row, the Orioles offense was humming against the Toronto Blue Jays. On this night it was needed as the Orioles climbed out of an early 4-0 hole to beat Toronto 10-5 and sweep this three-game series.

When the series began Monday night, the Orioles were 1-12 on the season against the Blue Jays with 10 consecutive losses. But tonight, the O's beat the Jays again to complete their first three-game sweep of the season against any team.

Right fielder Adam Jones gave the Orioles the lead when he hit the first Camden Yards grand slam of his career in the fifth inning. That would make it 5-4, and after Toronto tied it, the Orioles scored twice in the sixth to regain the lead. Trey Mancini also homered. He hit a solo shot for No. 20 and for his eighth extra-base hit his past five games.

The offense overcame a shaky outing by right-hander Alex Cobb. Cobb had pitched to a 2.20 ERA in recording six straight quality starts, but it didn't happen for him tonight. He allowed five runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 in a no-decision. His ERA increased to 5.11 and he allowed three homers, tying his career high.

He gave up a solo shot in the first to Justin Smoak, and one in the second to Kevin Pillar, allowing the Blue Jays to open up a 4-0 lead. Cobb gave up another solo homer, this one to Devon Travis in the sixth, which tied the game 5-5 and ended his night.

With the O's down by that early 4-0 score, Mancini got one back in the fourth with his homer off lefty Ryan Borucki. Mancini had two more hits tonight. Over his past five games he is 10-for-20 with four doubles, a triple, three homers and eight RBIs.

The O's moved ahead 5-4 on Jones' slam on a Borucki 3-1 changeup in the fifth. Jones yanked the outside corner pitch into the left-field seats for his second career slam and the Orioles' fourth of 2018. Jones' first slam was on July 28, 2008 at the New York Yankees. Jones plated Austin Wynns, Craig Gentry and Mancini, who had all singled.

The O's scored twice in the sixth to snap a 5-5 tie. With one out, John Andreoli reached on an infield hit and stole second. Batting ninth, Wynns hit a single to left to give him a two-hit night, and the Orioles had a 6-5 lead. Ryan Tepera came on and Gentry walked with two outs. Then Tepera threw wild on back-to-back pitches. The second scored Wynns for a 7-5 edge. The Orioles added three more in the eighth with an assist from shoddy Toronto defense. Jones did single in another run and matched his career high with five RBIs.

In the series the Orioles scored 29 runs on 41 hits and went 18-for-38 with runners in scoring position. Last week, when the Orioles were swept three straight at Rogers Centre, they scored five runs in that series.

The O's bullpen of Sean Gilmartin, Miguel Castro, Paul Fry and Mychal Givens combined for 3 1/3 scoreless tonight, with Gilmartin getting his first Orioles win.

Now the Orioles (40-94) take Thursday off and begin a three-game series on Friday night in Kansas City against the Royals.

Postgame quotes

Cobb on the Orioles playing well in this series: "Yeah, we're playing great. We're putting up a ton of runs each game. We're playing great defense. There's just an energy, there's a confidence about some guys getting an opportunity to play. And you have to take advantage of it when you're a younger guy, know that you're on an audition and there's always somebody else out there that wants your job, so there's no lack of energy in the clubhouse, for sure."

Cobb on Jones: "That was huge. Complete momentum swing. (Borucki) gets out of that jam and it's hard to get that opportunity back, where you have bases loaded and a chance to at least score a couple. Obviously, the grand slam put us on top and completely switched the momentum of the game. It's just fun to see him have fun. He's meant so much to this organization. For him to go out there and have big moments like that in a season that's kind of lost for us, it's fun to see and fun to be a part of. I don't know what the future holds for him here, but being his teammate has been a lot of fun."

Jones on what his first slam at Camden Yards meant: "Got the W and was able to help the team win. The bottom of the order really helped turn over the lineup, and the guys put me in a good situation. We had a really good team effort from everybody tonight."

Jones, is it fun to have the team speed now?: "We've got nothing to lose. When you have nothing to lose you might as well let your hair down and do everything that you want to do."

Jones on new players here finally having some success and getting wins: "It's good, but I think the best thing is for the guys that are going to get the shot here next year and throughout the next month, it's good for them to be here in a big league environment. To get the opportunity and see what they can do. At the end of the day, you can say this guy's a prospect or that guy's a prospect. The big leagues will tell you if you are going to be good or not. I think this next four weeks will be a good test for a lot of guys to see going forward what they can do in the major leagues. It's exciting as a lot of people get an opportunity. It's good for me as an older guy to see people really grab horns of the opportunity."