Is O's staff ready for challenge of Toronto? (Bowie wins division title)

As you know, the Orioles have had plenty of problems on offense recently, but they've had their share on the mound as well. The Tampa Bay Rays rank 14th out of 15 American League teams in runs scored. But in three games at Camden Yards this week, the Rays produced 23 runs, 38 hits and seven homers off Baltimore pitching.

O's starters pitched a combined 11 2/3 innings in that serie, allowing 25 hits and 16 runs (15 earned) for an ERA of 11.57 the last three games. The bullpen was forced to throw 17 1/3 innings.

Is that any way to prep for facing the Toronto Blue Jays? The Blue Jays right now are hitting like an elite slow-pitch softball team, bashing homers and scoring runs in abundance.

Can O's pitchers hold Toronto batters in check this weekend at Rogers Centre?

Toronto went 21-6 in August (while the Orioles were 11-18) to surge into first-place in the AL East at 76-57. The Blue Jays are 31-11 since the All-Star break, and their run differential is plus-115 since the break. It is plus-197 on the year. The next closest team in the majors is St. Louis at plus-142. The Orioles are a plus-28 in run differential for the 2015 season.

Over the last 14 games, Toronto has hit 27 homers with 54 extra-base hits. In that stretch, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion have combined to bat .394 with 14 homers and 51 RBIs.

Encarnacion was the AL Player of the Month for August when he batted .407, with a slugging percentage of .919, an OPS of 1.379 and a team-record 35 RBIs in one month. In his past 31 games, Donaldson is batting .358 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs.

So yeah, the O's pitchers are in for a major challenge against a club that has scored 730 runs on the year to average 5.5 per game.

Tonight, Ubaldo Jimenez (9-9, 4.34 ERA) gets the shot to slow those scorching Blue Jays bats. While Jimenez has an ERA of 7.50 in nine second-half starts, he also has an ERA of 2.84 in three starts this year against Toronto.

More notes on the Orioles:

* The Orioles are now 26-3 when Jonathan Schoop has homered in his career, following his game-tying, two-run shot on Wednesday. Of Schoop's 60 hits this year, 23 have gone for extra bases.

* Lefty Brian Matusz tossed 1 1/3 hitless innings Wednesday and now has a 0.84 ERA over his last 13 outings. He recorded four outs on four pitches, becoming just the third pitcher since 1991 to record four outs on four pitches according to STATS, LLC. (The last was Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yimi Garcia, June 7 against St. Louis).

* The Orioles are 19-26 in series-opening games and have lost five in a row. They are 1-3 in series openers against Toronto.

* Over the last three games, the Orioles trailed Tampa Bay by scores of 6-0 in the sixth inning Monday, 8-0 in the fifth on Tuesday and 4-0 after the top of the third on Wednesday.

* Manny Machado has mashed Toronto pitching this year. He is batting .404 (19-for-47) in 12 games with six doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs and an OPS of 1.176.

So, how will the Orioles do this weekend at Rogers Centre?

The Baysox are champions: For just the second time in the team's 23-year history, the Double-A Bowie Baysox are Eastern League Western Division champions.

Bowie beat Altoona 6-3 last night to wrap up the division title. They had already clinched a playoff berth. Quincy Latimore hit a three-run homer, and Andrew Triggs recorded his 17th save. The win came in Bowie's last regular-season home game.

Considering the Baysox had pitching injuries to Dylan Bundy, Branden Kline and Parker Bridwell - in addition to Tim Berry and Matt Hobgood - and lost Terry Doyle and Elih Villanueva to Triple-A Norfolk and Mychal Givens to Baltimore, this championship is pretty remarkable for the Baysox. Now, Bowie will look for its first-ever Eastern League championship starting next week.

Since the Baysox have clinched first place, their first home playoff game will be played Friday, Sept. 11. The first two games of the opening round, five-game series will be played on the road at the home field of the team that finishes second in the Western Division.

Triple-A Norfolk once led its division by 6 1/2 games, but that has been cut now to just one game over Gwinnett, who beat the Tides 6-2 last night. Norfolk has lost three games in two days to the Braves to fall to 76-64 with four games left. The Tides are 4-13 their past 17 games and trying not to let what once looked like a sure division title get away.

In the loss, Christian Walker hit two solo homers. He has 18 on the year. He leads the league with 13 homers and 44 RBIs in the second half, and has a OPS of .882 since the All-Star break. Walker extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and is batting .347 (17-for-49) with four home runs and 13 RBIs during this stretch.

Short season Single-A Aberdeen recorded an important 2-1 walk-off win over Lowell last night as outfielder Oswill Lartiguez drove in both runs. With five games remaining, Aberdeen and Hudson Valley are tied for second place at 37-35, just a half-game behind division-leading Staten Island at 37-34.