The rookie battery created a mostly feel-good night for the Orioles

Maybe we can set aside for the moment the fact that manager Buck Showalter gambled and lost, pitching Brad Brach three days in a row. And also leaving him in too long when he was struggling. If we could put aside a blown three-run lead in the ninth and the latest gut-punch loss we can realize that something pretty neat happened last night at Rogers Centre.

The Orioles sent out a rookie battery of catcher Austin Wynns, drafted in round 10 in 2013 out of Fresno State and pitcher David Hess, drafted in round five of 2014 out of Tennessee Tech. They had worked together many times on the farm but this was the majors and it was just the fifth start for Hess on the mound and the second for Wynns behind the plate.

But just like they had done in places like Frederick, Bowie and Norfolk, Hess and Wynns were teaming up on a strong performance and pitcher and catcher were humming along on the same page.

After the game Hess would say of his pairing with Wynns, "It's the same game, just a bigger stage."

This duo deserved an encore last night. Wynns hit a solo homer in the seventh and it was his first in the majors to provide a 2-1 lead. Hess was strong again. He gave up five hits and one run over six innings to lower his ERA to 3.07.

The rookies were impressive.

"He's been with me for the past few years," Hess said. "I've gotten to kind of see him grow and he's been able to see me grow. Together, it's been a lot of fun. We've definitely grown to learn each other well and it translates out there, being on the same page. He did a really great job of not letting the game get too big on him and staying true to what he does."

Over his past three starts, Hess has allowed two runs in 18 2/3 for an ERA of 0.96. Last night he threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of 23 batters. He has now recorded four quality starts in five games. That quality start percentage of 80.0 is the best on the Orioles. Dylan Bundy has eight in 13 starts for a 61.5 percentage.

Hess and Wynns made in-game adjustments too as Hess overcame a 26-pitch first inning to throw 99 over six innings plus.

"I think we really just had to utilize my offspeed pitches," Hess said. "I threw some curveballs that were good. I threw some splits that were good. Just tried to keep them off balance. Me and Wynns were together pretty much each inning going over what happened. What adjustments we wanted to make going into the next inning. I mean from at-bat to at-bat, even pitch-to-pitch you are making adjustments and I think he did a great job directing that flow."

Wynns said it was like just another game on the farm for the two players.

"It was cool," Wynns said. "That is what we were saying. When we were warming up, I was like, 'Alright, let's have some fun today.' Just had to get through that first inning. And then he just rolled with it after that. He just did a great job today. He has all his pitches and he was on."

Wynns looked like he would be playing a starring role on offense too, when his high fly to left in the seventh, carried over the wall for his first major league homer. Wynns became the 22nd player in team history to homer within his first two career games.

"Austin, you have to take something out of that night for him. I know it was a big moment for him," manager Buck Showalter said.

The Orioles let a win elude them in the late innings last night in Toronto. But up until then, they were headed toward an uplifting win. With Hess and Wynns leading the way.

A few more notes: Hess' outing last night gave the Orioles three quality starts in three games on this road trip. Alex Cobb, Bundy and Hess have combined to allow two runs in 19 innings to the Mets and Blue Jays. Over the last eight games the Orioles have seven quality starts with an ERA of 3.10. The rotation is on its best run of the year.

The Orioles homered three times but fell to 8-4 when they hit three or more.

Danny Valencia went 2-for-4 and hit a 424-foot home run. Over his past 24 games, Valencia has hit .341 (28-for-82) with three doubles, four homers and 12 RBIs.

The homers the Orioles hit last night were solo shots, and now their last 14 homers have come with no one on base. Their last homer that was not a solo shot was a two-run homer on May 19 by Pedro Álvarez.

Since starting the year without a homer or RBI in his first seven games, the Orioles' Manny Machado has hit 18 homers with 50 RBIs over his past 54 games.

Had last night's game ended in a Toronto loss as it appeared it would, the Blue Jays would have been 1-11 in their last 12 home games. The last time Toronto had a stretch this bad at home was when they went 1-12 from April 15-May 12, 1979 at Exhibition Stadium.

Toronto is 6-1 in extra innings games and that is one more win than last year's team, which went 5-14 in extras. The Blue Jays ended a seven-game losing streak against AL East opponents.