The need to make contact, and today's game

Besides duplicating the Blue Jays' placement in the division standings next season, the Orioles would like to more closely mimic their approach at the plate.

Manager Buck Showalter said the Orioles need to make better contact next season, and he cited the Blue Jays as a prime example. His club began Game 2 of yesterday's doubleheader ranked fourth in the majors with 1,299 strikeouts, while the Jays and their collection of mashers ranked 25th with 1,112.

The Blue Jays' .339 on-base percentage ranked first, while the Orioles were 28th - and last in the American League - at .304.

It appears that the Jays get tons of run production from the likes of Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, but they also receive a healthy dose of quality at-bats.

"We're all trying to paint these perfect players," Showalter said. "I was watching. Obviously, their two, three and four hitters drove in 100 runs, but their strikeouts are very manageable. It's something we need to get better at, but I could sit here and talk about a lot of good things that our guys do, too."

Chris Davis raised his club-record strikeout total to 206 in the doubleheader. He could leave via free agency this winter, also taking his team-leading home run, RBI and walk totals.

Davis' second home run last night traveled an estimated 436 feet. Matt Wieters' home run, the 100th of his career, traveled 414.

"I wanted to hit 100 before this year's over," Wieters said, "so no matter what happens in the future I hit 100 as an Oriole."

Tyler Wilson is making his fifth major league start and ninth appearance today in a game moved from 7:05 p.m. to 12:05 p.m., due to another ominous weather forecast. He held the Jays to one run in 5 2/3 innings after relieving Mike Wright on June 19 in Toronto.

Chris Colabello is 2-for-2 with a double against Wilson, who's allowed two runs in 10 1/3 innings at home this season.

Left-hander David Price has further enhanced his free-agent status by going 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 11 starts for the Blue Jays, with 19 earned runs and 57 hits in 74 1/3 innings. He's made two starts against the Orioles this season and allowed two runs and nine hits in 14 innings, with five walks and 20 strikeouts.

He won't be facing them today as scheduled. The Jays are pushing him back and sending right-hander Drew Hutchison to the mound.

Too bad for Wieters, who's 15-for-44 with six doubles and a home run against Price.

Hutchison is 13-4 with a 5.33 ERA in 28 games this season. He's 5-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 11 career starts against the Orioles and 1-1 with a 4.71 ERA in five starts at Camden Yards.

Davis is 6-for-23 with three home runs against Hutchison. Jimmy Paredes is 4-for-10 with a home run, Steve Pearce is 3-for-9 with a home run and Jonathan Schoop is 4-for-12 with a double and home run.