Showalter on Givens and the bullpen (O's fall 5-1)

TORONTO - No doubt the Orioles bullpen will get a few chances to shine in this series at Rogers Centre. And the Orioles relievers have been doing that most of this season.

In fact, over the club's last 13 games, the Orioles bullpen has pitched to an ERA of 0.74, allowing nine runs (four earned) over 48 2/3 innings.

With Darren O'Day back from the disabled list to join Mychal Givens, Brad Brach and Donnie Hart to set up for closer Zach Britton, manager Buck Showalter has a few options to choose from over the late innings.

"It's nice to have some depth there, but just because we've done it in the past doesn't mean it's going to happen tonight," Showalter said. "You have to go earn it and our guys have gone and earned it every opportunity they've gotten."

Givens is on a roll right now. He has put together eight consecutive scoreless appearances. Over eight innings in that span, he has allowed just three hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts. He has lowered his ERA from 3.60 to 3.21.

"The thing I like about Mike is when he gets out of whack a little bit for an outing, he gets right back on the horse," Showalter said. "That's why we, as you've seen, try to get him right back out there and get back to what he's capable of doing. He's got such a good feel now for how that happens.

"Guys look at tape from when they go well and they don't. You've got to be your own pitching coach sometimes. You see him get out of the strike zone for a couple of pitches, then all of the sudden he makes a quality pitch. That's a sign of maturity. Sometimes we lose sight of how many pitchers we have with not a whole lot of major league experience."

Toronto scores first: The Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead in the last of the first tonight on Josh Donaldson's two-run homer to left. He crushed a 95 mph 2-2 fastball from Kevin Gausman for his 37th home run. It scored Ezequiel Carrera, who drew a leadoff walk. Gausman got two strikeouts and a flyout after that home run, but threw 29 pitches in the first.

Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez began his night by striking out the side on 16 pitches getting Adam Jones swinging, Chris Davis looking and Manny Machado swinging at 97 mph fastballs. He pitched out a first-and-third, two-outs situation in the Orioles second, getting Michael Bourn to fly out to left. Gausman fanned two more batters in a 1-2-3 last of the second inning on just 10 pitches.

Each team scored in the third: The Orioles cut the lead to 2-1 in the third. J.J. Hardy led off with a double and is now batting .404 his last 17 games. He scored on Mark Trumbo's two-out single to center for his 105th RBI.

But Toronto got that run back in its half of the third. Leadoff batter Ezequiel Carrera hit an opposite-field homer to left to make it a 3-1 lead. It was his sixth homer. Gausman is at 61 pitches through three.

Jays open bigger lead: Toronto scored twice in the fifth to lead 5-1. Carrera singled in one run and another scored on Manny Machado's throwing error.

It's a final: The Orioles fall 5-1 to the Blue Jays.