Showalter on the Toronto defense (Trumbo homers)

TORONTO - With two games to go against the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2016 regular season, the Orioles have lost the season series. Toronto has won 10 of the 17 games between these teams, including six of eight at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays (87-70) begin this game two games ahead of the Orioles (85-72) for second place in the American League East and the first AL wild card.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter is well aware on the stat sheet Toronto ranks fourth in the AL in runs scored and first in team pitching (with a 3.80 ERA). But he feels the Toronto defense gets overlooked. Last night, there were several keys defensive plays made by Toronto in the series-opening win.

"The Blue Jays, they really, the last two or three years, they really started identifying some of their defensive weaknesses," Showalter said this afternoon. "They play so much better in center field, shortstop, second base, third base than they have in the past. (Russell) Martin is a really good catcher.

"They really defend so much better than they did three years ago and I think that to me, as much as you talk about other things, is where they made the biggest leap. I'm not saying they copied anybody. (Troy) Tulowitizki was a big upgrade for them, (Kevin) Pillar. Whoever they play at second. Without knocking people that were here before, that is one of the biggest changes for them and has made their pitching staff better, too."

O's defense with a shaky first: The Orioles pretty much handed Toronto a 1-0 lead in the first inning tonight. After left-hander Francisco Liriano retired the Orioles in order on 14 pitches in the first, the Blue Jays took the lead.

Leadoff hitter Ezequiel Carrera bounced one to pitcher Chris Tillman's right. He fielded it running toward first and shuffled a quick throw to Chris Davis at the bag who could not handle the throw for an E3. Moments later, an errant Tillman pickoff throw sent Carrera to third on the second error in the inning. Edwin Encarnacion's deep fly ball to center went for a sac fly, his AL-leading 127th RBI, and a 1-0 lead on an unearned run produced without a hit.

Toronto added a run in the second on Tulowitzki's double, Michael Saunders' single and Pillar's sac fly for a 2-0 lead.

Meawhile, the Orioles went 1-2-3 in each of the first three innings. Through the first three frames, Liriano is at 36 pitches and Tillman is at 50.

O's can't score in fourth or fifth: The Orioles' fourth inning started with singles by Adam Jones and Davis. But then Liriano struck out Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo and Trey Mancini. In the fifth, they loaded the bases with two outs, but Davis was called out on strikes on a 2-2 slider that looked high. Another rally goes by the boards. Through the fifth inning tonight, the Orioles are 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in this series with 21 strikeouts.

Trumbo homers: Trumbo hit his major league-leading 46th home run in the eighth inning off the Blue Jays' Jason Grilli. The solo shot to left field came on a 1-0 count. Pedro Alvarez followed that with a double while pinch-hitting for Mancini. Drew Stubbs came on to run for Alvarez with Matt Wieters at the plate. But the catcher popped up to left field to end the rally. The Blue Jays lead 2-1 heading to the bottom of the eighth.