Major League Baseball

Davis hurts Blue Jays again; Orioles win 5-3

Published Sep. 14, 2013 12:25 a.m. ET

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The Blue Jays have had more trouble than most teams containing Chris Davis this season.

On Friday, baseball's home run leader pounded Toronto pitching once again.

Davis hit his major league-leading 50th home run, a tiebreaking solo shot in the eighth inning, and Baltimore erased a 3-0 deficit to beat the Blue Jays 5-3, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Davis has hit seven home runs off Blue Jays pitching this season and has 15 total homers against Toronto since the start of the 2012 season, the most by any opponent.

''He's having a great year,'' Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. ''He's so strong he hits them anywhere. It's got nothing to do with the park here. Some guys will get some cheapies here. He doesn't get any cheapies.''

Adam Lind hit a two-run home run and Colby Rasmus returned from the disabled list with a solo shot, but the Blue Jays lost their fourth straight.

Toronto slugger Edwin Encarnacion returned to the lineup at designated hitter after missing the past four games with a sore left wrist.

Davis became the 27th major leaguer to join the 50-homer club, and the first since Jose Bautista in 2010, when he led off the eighth with a blast to center off All-Star reliever Steve Delabar, connecting on a 2-2 pitch.

''I knew I barreled it up,'' Davis said. ''I tried to go the other way there with two strikes. I've faced Steve a few times. You can't look for his split, as hard as he throws. I was just trying to put a good swing on it and stay through it.''

Delabar (5-4) allowed two runs and three hits in one inning, losing his second straight appearance. The right-hander also lost to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

The drive matched Brady Anderson's 1996 Orioles record and made Davis just the third player in major league history with 50 homers and 40 doubles in the same season. The others were Babe Ruth (1921) and Albert Belle (1995).

''It's a humbling feeling to be in the same company with the guys I'm in,'' Davis said.

Adam Jones followed Davis' blast with an infield hit and, two outs later, moved up on Ryan Flaherty's walk before scoring on Danny Valencia's RBI single.

Tommy Hunter (5-4) worked 1 2-3 innings for the win and Jim Johnson finished for his 44th save in 53 chances, rebounding after his wild pitch helped the New York Yankees beat Baltimore 6-5 on Thursday.

The Orioles, who had lost four of their previous five, came in 2 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the race for the second AL wild-card berth. They gained half a game on the New York Yankees, who lost 8-4 at Boston.

The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the fourth when Encarnacion drew a two-out walk and Lind drilled Jason Hammel's next pitch into the seats for his 20th home run.

Activated off the 15-day disabled list before the game after missing more than a month with a strained muscle in his left side, Rasmus made it 3-0 with a solo blast off Hammel to begin the fifth, his 19th.

''That's not easy to do without some live at-bats for quite a while,'' Gibbons said.

Toronto starter Todd Redmond left one out after Jones doubled to open the seventh. Dustin McGowan came on and gave up an RBI double to J.J. Hardy, then walked Flaherty.

Valencia popped out but Steve Clevenger tied it with a double that bounced over the head of right fielder Moises Sierra. Nate McLouth walked before Sergio Santos came on and struck out Manny Machado to end the inning.

Redmond allowed one run and three hits in a career-high 6 1-3 innings. He walked none and struck out seven.

''I felt real good today,'' Redmond said. ''I was able to keep the ball down and keep the hitters off balance.''

Gibbons said he felt bad for Redmond after his call to the bullpen ''backfired.''

''He threw a whale of a game we just didn't get any outs,'' Gibbons said of Redmond. ''He's been a pleasant surprise for us. He's normally a five-inning guy but tonight he stretched it out, he was really good. He's put himself on the map.''

Singles by Brett Lawrie and Rasmus gave the Blue Jays runners at the corners with one out in the seventh, bringing Hunter on in relief of T.J. McFarland. Hunter escaped by fanning Sierra and J.P. Arencibia.

Hammel started for the Orioles in place of Bud Norris, who was scratched Wednesday with a sore right elbow. He allowed three runs and three hits in five innings, walked one and struck out two.

NOTES: Anderson hit his final three homers of the 1996 season in Toronto, connecting off Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen for his 50th on Sept. 29. ... Redmond pitched in five games with Baltimore during spring training but was claimed on waivers by Toronto in late March. ... Orioles RHP Darren O'Day had two injections in his right hand Friday to relieve numbness and tingling in his fingers, an ailment that has kept him off the mound since Sept. 7. ... Baltimore C Matt Wieters got the day off after catching six of the past seven games. Wieters is expected to catch back-to-back day games Saturday and Sunday. ... The Blue Jays have hit at least one double in each of the past 10 games.

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