Michael Saunders homers three times as Blue Jays rout Orioles

When the Orioles last saw the them - last weekend at Rogers Centre - the Toronto Blue Jays scored 11 runs Saturday and 10 runs on Sunday.

The Blue Jays' pounding of O's pitching continued tonight at Camden Yards. Toronto scored seven runs in the fourth to open an 11-2 lead and went on to win 13-3 in the series opener.

Toronto left fielder Michael Saunders has feasted on O's pitching this year. Tonight, he hit three-run homers in the first and fourth innings, and added a two-run homer in the sixth for his first career three-home run night. He posted a career-high eight RBIs with his seventh career multi-homer game and second of this season.

Saunders batted with the bases loaded against T.J. McFarland in the eighth, looking for a four-homer game, but he bounced into a double play. Josh Hamilton and Rocky Colavito are the only two players to ever homer four times in one game against the Orioles.

On the year versus the Orioles, Saunders is 18-for-33 (.545) with six doubles, five homers and 12 RBIs. Saunders has 15 homers on the year and has hit five in his last four games versus Baltimore pitching.

Mike Wright had another poor night and you have to wonder how much longer the Orioles can keep him in their rotation. Toronto scored three off him in the first and knocked him out during the seven-run fourth inning.

Wright went 3 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, a career-high eight runs and three home runs. He falls to 3-4 with an ERA of 6.12. His last two starts have come versus Toronto and he's allowed 12 runs over 8 2/3 innings. His ERA in starts this season against American League East teams is 10.46. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched in relief and allowed four hits and five runs on two homers over 2 1/3 innings.

Last weekend, Toronto scored 30 runs in four games against the Orioles. In their last three games versus Baltimore, they have scored 11, 10 and 13 runs.

The Orioles scored on Manny Machado's RBI single in the first and Mark Trumbo's single in the third. They loaded the bases in both of those innings and failed to score more than once each time. Ryan Flaherty hit a solo homer in the ninth.

Six of the first seven games between these two teams this year were decided by one run, but this one was a blowout. The Orioles fall to 38-28 for the year and to 24-12 at home. Toronto has won four in a row and seven of eight to improve to 39-31. Toronto is 11-5 in June and has scored 104 runs this month.

In the second game of this series, on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., Yovani Gallardo (1-1, 7.00 ERA) returns to the rotation and pitches against R.A. Dickey (4-7, 4.16 ERA).