De Aza and Davis homer in first inning (O's lead 3-0)

Alejandro De Aza celebrated his 31st birthday tonight with a leadoff home run.

Some people prefer an ice cream cake. De Aza hit a frozen rope onto the flag court in right field.

(See what I did there?)

de-aza-fist-bump-gray-sidebar.jpgThe Orioles' last leadoff home run came from Nick Markakis on Sept. 25, 2014 in New York. You may remember him. Spent a lot of years in an Orioles uniform. Left as a free agent.

Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez, making his first major league start after 24 relief appearances last season, also served up a home run to Chris Davis to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead only three batters into the game.

Davis' last home run came on Sept. 6 at Tropicana Field. You may remember the suspension that followed.

Davis crushed Sanchez's first pitch, a 94 mph fastball that landed in the seats in left-center field. It's always a good sign when Davis is hitting the ball to the opposite field, which he couldn't do last season because of an oblique injury.

Davis is 2-for-2 with two home runs lifetime against Sanchez.

Ubaldo Jimenez has retired the first six Blue Jays on 23 pitches, 15 for strikes. He's struck out two, including Russell Martin looking to end the second inning.

The delivery looks tighter and he's got nice movement on his pitches. So far, so good.

The Orioles made their roster move official right before first pitch, placing reliever Wesley Wright on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left trapezius muscle and recalling knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa from Triple-A Norfolk. Gamboa will wear No. 68.

Update: The Orioles added another run in the third and lead 3-0.

De Aza, Steve Pearce and Davis singled, and Adam Jones grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. De Aza is 6-for-15 this season.

Jimenez has retired the first nine Blue Jays on 37 pitches. He's struck out four batters, the last three looking.

Update II: Jose Reyes singled leading off the fourth, but Jimenez retired the next three batters. He's thrown 55 pitches, 35 for strikes, in four innings.

Jimenez has struck out five, including Jose Bautista in the fourth on a high fastball.




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