Hess throws six scoreless, Mancini drives in five in win (quotes added)

In might be a little early to be calling him a stopper, but in a rematch with the Toronto Blue Jays tonight, right-hander David Hess handled them again and in the process the Orioles ended an eight-game losing streak.

Hess had a co-star tonight as Trey Mancini produced a five-RBI night with a three-run homer and two-run double. It matches his career high of June 7, 2017 versus Pittsburgh.

Hess threw six scoreless in his latest strong outing as the Orioles blanked Toronto 7-0 in the series opener at Oriole Park. Hess gave up just four hits and pitched out of a few jams as he improved to 3-8 and lowered his ERA to 5.08 with a 99-pitch outing.

His start came five days he allowed one run over seven innings against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. In three starts this season against Toronto, Hess allowed two runs over 19 innings for a 0.95 ERA. In his last four starts overall, Hess has a 2.19 ERA.

The Orioles (38-94) won for the first time since Aug. 18 at Cleveland and improved to 1-4 on this homestand. This was just the second time all year they beat Toronto. They ended a 10-game losing streak versus the Blue Jays, improving to 2-12 in the season series. This was Baltimore's sixth shutout tonight.

Hess rolled through the first three innings tonight, allowing just one single. He needed just 46 pitches to get those nine outs. He ran into some trouble in the fourth, fifth and sixth, but he got out of it each time.

Billy McKinney doubled to right to start the fourth. Then Hess got a groundout with McKinney advancing to third with one down. Hess struck out Justin Smoak looking at a 3-2 changeup, and a fly ball ended that threat.

In the fifth Hess allowed a double and walk with one out, but he toughened up again with runners on, and a fly ball and grounder got him out of that inning. In the fourth and fifth tonight, Toronto went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Hess stranded runners at first and third in the sixth when he got Aledmys Díaz to ground out to short. That inning included a strikeout of Justin Smoak on a 71 mph curveball.

But Toronto starter Sam Gaviglio held the Orioles scoreless through the fifth. That would change in the sixth, though. Cedric Mullins led off with a single and moved up on Jonathan Villar's bunt hit toward third. A wild pitch moved the runners up and Adam Jones was walked intentionally. Chris Davis bounced out, but a run scored to snap the 0-0 tie.

Then Mancini drove a ball to deep right-center, and it carried out for a three-run homer. It turned a 1-0 lead quickly into a 4-0 edge as he hit No. 19. Mancini drove a sinker 392 feet to score Davis and Villar. An inning later, Mancini doubled in two more runs and scored on Tim Beckham's single for the 7-0 lead. The Orioles scored just 17 total runs during their eight-game loss streak.

The Orioles had been held scoreless in their previous 18 innings against Toronto pitching until their outburst in the sixth. Tonight they won for just the second time in 12 games and fifth in their past 24 contests.

Toronto's Kendrys Morales went 0-for-3 with a walk. This ended his run of seven consecutive games with a homer. The streak stopped one game shy of tying the major league record of eight straight.

Postgame quotes

Mancini on ending the losing streak: "Yeah, it was a great win for us. David pitched great yet again. He's been doing a great job lately and it was good to get him some run support tonight. Because we haven't been doing that. And everybody contributed. Really good team win tonight."

Mancini on a five-RBI night: "It felt good. Whenever guys are in scoring position especially, and with less than two outs, you want to get them in. And I haven't been doing the best job of that this year. So it felt good to do that a couple of times tonight."

Did Hess make any adjustments facing Toronto in back-to-back starts?: "You always make adjustments. But I think, going into the game, the game plan we had last time worked pretty well. So we didn't want to change too much until they showed they could beat us at that. So going in we just kind of kept the same attack-mode mentality and went right at them and forced them to show us they could handle it."

Hess on pitching well in recent starts: "I think just really staying from pitch to pitch and staying in the moment. Evaluating what is needed in each situation. I think talking with Roger (McDowell, pitching coach) and talking with the veteran guys like (Alex) Cobb and (Andrew) Cashner, picking their brains on what they have done in their careers that helped them get to where they are at now. I think that's been a big help. Just learning how to slow the game down a little bit and make each pitch a quality pitch rather than trying to force the situation."

Is Hess doing anything differently since his earlier struggles?: "The simple answer is locating better and keeping the ball down on both sides of the plate. Our catchers are doing a great job calling the game back there. And then working between each start. Each time we go in with the mentality to get better with each pitch. Just trying to simplify the game. And making each pitch as good as it can be."