Showalter speaks after 4-3 loss

With tonight's 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Camden Yards, the Orioles must win their six remaining games to finish above .500.

They must run the table while still hurting for runs.

The scoreless innings streak ended at 29 tonight, but the three runs came on one swing from Ryan Flaherty in the second. Three of the four hits came in that inning. The last baserunner was Matt Wieters, who singled for the second time tonight in the fourth inning.

Blue Jays pitchers retired the last 17 Orioles.

Chris Tillman, battered by the Jays in his five previous starts, was charged with two runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings. He left after 104 pitches with a 3-1 lead.

Tillman served up a leadoff home run to Edwin Encarnacion in the second, but he blanked the Jays until running into trouble in the eighth.

"Chris was solid," said manager Buck Showalter. "Two things I liked: He gave up the home run and came right back with the strikeout against a good hitter (Chris Colabello), and he gave up a leadoff hit and came right back with a double play ball to (Encarnacion).

"Chris was really good tonight. He needed to be because so was (Marco) Estrada. He's been pitching well for four or five outings in a row. Very economical with his pitches. We had another four-hit game. That one inning Ryan put a good swing on a changeup, first pitch after a couple hits and that was about it."

Darren O'Day let an inherited runner score and one of his own in the eighth to tie the game. Brad Brach gave up consecutive singles to open the ninth and eventually let the go-ahead run score on Justin Smoak's fielder's choice roller to Chris Davis, who fired the ball over catcher Matt Wieters' head.

"Good at-bats by the other team," Showalter said when asked about O'Day and Brach. "They're a good team. They've got a lot of weapons off the bench. They're a challenge."

Scoring runs has been a supreme challenge for the Orioles, who couldn't build on Flaherty's ninth homer. Showalter hoped the opposite-field shot would open the floodgates. No even a trickle.

"Yeah, if Estrada would cooperate," Showalter said. "He's a good pitcher. He's been a great addition for them. Guys who can command a fastball and a changeup play real well in the American League. We've seen a lot of that lately."

The Orioles don't want to see the Jays celebrate a division title on their field. It could happen this week.

"It's important for the Orioles to win a game every night regardless of what the consequences are," Showalter said. "It's important for us every night to win a game. You don't think about the consequences of a loss. You try to do everything you can.

"We were very close tonight. Some good people for us who have done a good job for us, and some good people for them who have done a real good job. Tonight, they did a little better job than we did."