Steve Pearce homers twice as O's beat Jays to sweep series

In their first game as official American League East champions, the Orioles did what they've been doing a lot of lately - they won. Steve Pearce hit a pair of homers and Bud Norris pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings as the Orioles beat Toronto 6-1 in front of 37,537 at Camden Yards. The Orioles improved to 92-60 and swept the three-game series. They are a season-high 32 games over .500, the most they've been over that mark since the 1997 Orioles finished the year 98-64. The Orioles are 6-1 on this homestand. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and are 19-5 in their past 24 games. Since June 30, the Orioles have the best record in baseball at 50-21 (.704). Pearce hit a solo homer to left in the third and a three-run shot to left-center in the fifth inning. It's his second multi-homer game of the year, the first on June 30 against Texas, and second of his career. Pearce now has 20 homers. He had 17 for his career entering 2014. The game was not without another incident. Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez threw a high and tight pitch toward Pearce in the seventh inning. The ball actually hit his bat and both benches were warned. Sanchez and the Blue Jays were booed off the field at the end of the inning. Christian Walker made his major league debut tonight, batting seventh and at first base. He went 1-for-3 with a double for his first big league hit in his third at-bat. Quintin Berry pinch-ran for him and later scored on a Jimmy Paredes groundout. David Lough hit a solo homer in the eighth inning for the Orioles. Norris gave up just two hits but walked a season-high five batters tonight. He gets the win to go to 14-8 with an ERA of 3.62. Norris has won his last eight decisions in games against an American League East opponent. The Orioles are 12-1 in his 13 starts against a division rival this season, and Norris is 8-1 with an ERA of 2.72 in those games. Orioles starting pitchers have a 1.69 ERA over their last 16 games. The Orioles are 10-6 versus the Blue Jays, 43-23 against the AL East and a major league-best 30-8 (.789) at home since June 30. After taking Thursday off, the Orioles host Boston for three games over the weekend starting on Friday night.