Offense could be lacking when Orioles visit Jays (Jun 07, 2018)
TORONTO -- The Baltimore Orioles were able to scrape out a win Wednesday afternoon, but the Toronto Blue Jays were not able to score a run in 13 innings at night.
The Orioles defeated the New York Mets 1-0 at Citi Field, while the Blue Jays lost 3-0 to the New York Yankees in Toronto.
The two worst teams in the American League East -- both offensively-challenged -- will try to get something going Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series at the Rogers Centre.
Right-hander David Hess (2-2, 3.47 ERA) will start for the Orioles against Blue Jays left-hander Jaime Garcia (2-4, 6.08).
Hess, who will be making his fifth start for Baltimore, has never faced Toronto.
Garcia has made one career start against the Orioles, going 1-0 with an 8.44 ERA. That start was in 2011, when Garcia allowed 10 hits and five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
The Blue Jays (26-35) could manage only four hits Wednesday in their loss to the Yankees, who completed a sweep of the two-game series.
It was the third time the Blue Jays have been shut out this season. They have lost 10 of their past 11 games at home and are 12-19 at Rogers Centre overall.
"You've got to ride it out," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "I mean, we've got guys that can hit and they're going to hit. But there's not a lot you can do."
The Orioles (19-41), meanwhile, completed a two-game sweep of the Mets on a sacrifice fly by Manny Machado in the eighth inning. It was only their second series win on the road this season.
"It was a huge run for us," Machado said. "We needed it. Obviously, the score dictated it, but this is a big one for us."
Baltimore defeated the Mets 2-1 on Tuesday to end a seven-game losing streak.
"I'm not going to overanalyze that we only scored, what, three runs?" Orioles manager Buck Showalter said after the game on Wednesday. "We'll take the two wins. We played two crisp ballgames. We did a lot of things that we haven't been doing that we need to do better. ... We're going to take some pleasure in winning regardless. It's always tough to win on the road. We did a lot of little things we haven't been doing."
The Blue Jays, who need all the help they can get, could have third baseman Josh Donaldson back in the lineup Friday for the second game of the series against the Orioles.
Donaldson went on the disabled list May 29 with left calf tightness.
"Everything felt pretty good," Donaldson said Wednesday. "Today was a little better with the running. We were doing some running and stuff inside and I felt like every day it's getting a little better. And right now, I feel like we're on target -- I'm guessing it's the second game against Baltimore, that's what I'm hearing."
It is the second time that Donaldson has been on the DL this season. He was out from April 11-May 2 with right shoulder inflammation.
Orioles right-handed reliever Darren O'Day (elbow) could be rejoining the team soon. He will have one more rehabilitation assignment Thursday with Class A Frederick.
The Blue Jays have won the only series between the teams this season, taking two of three at Camden Yards on April 9-11.
