Slump breaker: Alejandro De Aza has two hits in O's win over Toronto, plus other notes

After batting .293 in 20 games for the Orioles last season after they acquired him Aug. 30, outfielder Alejandro De Aza got off to a fast start this year.

He hit safely in his first six games of the season, batting .333. But his bat soon trailed off and he came into last night's game batting just .211 for the year, and just .122 (5-for-41) over his last 12 games.

But De Aza's bat finally got going a bit in last night's 6-1 win over Toronto. He went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI double. He reached four times in five plate appearances, adding a walk and hit by pitch. It was his first multi-hit game since April 15.

"I've been working on some little things, working on my timing and trying to chase fewer breaking pitches. It feels good to be able to get on base and help the team," De Aza said.

De Aza is batting .314 in nine home games with an OPS of .927, and is batting just .159 in 12 road games with an OPS of .491.

De Aza hit his ninth career leadoff homer on April 11 against Toronto off right-hander Aaron Sanchez. Then, last night, he doubled and had two hits against the same pitcher.

After last night's win, the Orioles have their first series win in three tries this year against Toronto. During this nine-game homestand, the Orioles will try to get at or above the .500 mark. De Aza feels they can make a run during this homestand.

"Yes, of course. Going to have to keep playing hard and some good things will happen," he said.

The Orioles are now 15-17 with 130 games still to play as they try to play more consistent baseball and start rolling off more series victories.

"It is still really early," catcher Caleb Joseph said. "We are still trying to jell. We've gotten J.J. (Hardy) back and (Matt) Wieters will be back sooner than later. Still battling through some injury stuff but our team is taking the shape we thought it might two or three weeks ago. But there are still 130 games left. That is an eternity in baseball. We have to learn from our mistakes and just be better all around."

More notes on the Orioles:

* Miguel Gonzalez gave up just one unearned run over 7 2/3 innings to get the win last night. Over his last six starts against Toronto, he is 5-0 with an ERA of 0.98. In 11 career games (10 starts) versus the Blue Jays, he is 7-2 with a 2.36 ERA and six quality starts.

* In 47 career appearances (44 starts) against American League East teams, Gonzalez is 20-11 with an ERA of 3.26 and 26 quality starts.

* Gonzalez has pitched at least five innings in 19 of his last 20 starts with an ERA of 2.09 in that span.

* Manny Machado has now reached base safely in a career high-tying 19 consecutive games. He has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, batting .359/.405/.615 in that span.

* Joseph went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs last night, and the Birds improved to 24-3 when Joseph records at least one RBI in his career.

* Darren O'Day got the last four outs to record a save. He has not allowed an earned run over his last 11 appearances covering 10 innings. It is his longest such streak since a 14-game stretch, June 17-July 25, 2014.

* The Orioles bullpen has pitched to an ERA of 1.41 since April 29.

* The Orioles recorded a season-high five doubles Wednesday night, the first five-double game for the club since September 14, 2014 verus the New York Yankees.

* After scoring five runs or more in just two of their last 11 games, the Orioles scored six runs. They scored five runs in the second inning alone and went 4-for-5 with runners in scoring position in that inning.