Brian Duensing talks about getting key out in O's Wednesday win

TORONTO - Left-handed reliever Brian Duensing has only thrown 12 1/3 innings in 13 games for the Orioles. But he was on the mound last night in one of the biggest spots of the year.

Toronto, leading 2-1, had the bases loaded and two outs in the last of the eighth with Orioles killer Michael Saunders coming up. Manager Buck Showalter turned to Duensing for a left-on-left matchup, but the Blue Jays pinch-hit with right-handed batter Melvin Upton Jr.

Duensing struck him out to keep the Orioles down by one run and set the stage for Hyun Soo Kim's dramatic pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth to give Baltimore the lead.

It was a big moment for the 33-year-old Duensing, who spent about two months on the disabled list after undergoing elbow surgery in June.

"The last couple of months have been kind of rough with the rehab and surgery. It felt good to contribute in a big situation and for things to go as well as they did, it felt good," Duensing said in the clubhouse this afternoon.

"Any time you get put in a big situation, it's fun. To have Buck put me in that situation, shows a little bit of confidence from him there. Just glad I did my job and did it well and we got that win."

As an Oriole, Duensing is 1-0 with a 4.38 ERA. Lefty batters are hitting just .200 off him. But right-handed hitters were 9-for-28 (.321) going into last night. He ran to the mound expecting to face one hitter and saw another. Saunders is batting .410 with seven homers and 15 RBIs against the Orioles this year, but manager John Gibbons elected to hit Upton Jr. to get a right-hander up versus Duensing.

"You know, I was just focused on facing Saunders there," Duensing said. "Next thing I know, I look up and it's Upton. I didn't really know how I wanted to go about (pitching to) him. I just trusted (Matt) Wieters and went with his game plan. He had a better idea than I would have. We executed and got the job done."

Not as easy it sounds in such a big spot and with a sellout crowd of 44,668 roaring.

"It was loud, but surprisingly, once I got on the mound, I was able to calm myself down and I really didn't hear much," Duensing said. "But when you're in the bullpen, you can hear it pretty good. It's a fun place to play, a good atmosphere. Everyone is probably different, but if I'm not hearing anything, that usually means I'm locked in and focused."

Duensing is enjoying his time in an Orioles bullpen that has pitched to an 0.67 ERA the last 15 games.

"It's fun. We all get along down there," he said. "We've got some young guys and some veteran guys. I'm always trying to learn from everybody and I've learned a few things from the way they go about their business. It's just a good group of guys and they are easy to pull for. When a team pulls for each other, things can go well."