Orioles eliminate Jays from AL East race

Last Updated: Saturday, September 15, 2007 | 12:27 AM ET

CBC Sports

The Baltimore Orioles dropped the Toronto Blue Jays below the .500 mark with a 6-2 win Friday night at the Rogers Centre.

Led by rookie pitcher Brian Burres and second baseman Brian Roberts, Baltimore scored all four runs in the first three innings and then shut down Toronto the rest of the way. Centre-fielder Tike Redmond chipped in with a 3-for-5 night, including an RBI double in the ninth inning.

Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, right, is congratulated by teammate Tike Redman after hitting his 11th home run of the season off Toronto starter Jesse Litsch Friday night.
(J.P. Moczulski/Canadian Press)

The loss eliminates the Blue Jays from the American League East race.

Burres (6-5) pitched seven solid innings and allowed eight hits to help give the Orioles (62-83) their second straight victory.

It's only the second time in nearly a month that Baltimore has won consecutive games.

Roberts hit his 11th home run of the season in the second inning, while designated hitter Aubrey Huff collected two hits and an RBI single.

Burres's biggest escape occurred in the fifth, when Vernon Wells and Reed Johnson reached on one-out singles, but a rare unassisted double play by left-fielder Jay Payton allowed him to walk off the field unscathed.

"That was real big," said Burres. "If he doesn't do that, I've still got guys on first and second with the Big Hurt [Frank Thomas] coming up. Big."

The Jays (73-74), meanwhile, continued their offensive struggles and lost for the sixth time in seventh games. Toronto has only totalled 17 runs in the last seven games, failing to score more than four in any of them.

"Generally, over the year, we get into trouble when we get in hook mode, pull mode and don't use the whole field," said Jays manager John Gibbons. "When we got a couple of things going tonight we were using the whole field.

"On the nights we run into trouble, we're too pull conscious."

Infielders Aaron Hill and Hector Luna scored Toronto's only two runs of the game with a pair of solo homers in the ninth inning off reliever Jamie Walker.

"You've got to score in this league," said Gibbons, "and we're not scoring."

'My changeup is struggling': Litsch

Blue Jays starter Jesse Litsch (5-9) extended his personal winless streak to four contests after lasting only three innings. The 22-year-old rookie right-hander allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out five.

"My changeup is struggling a little bit," said Litsch. "It's been a big pitch for me, that's one of the main reasons I got up here. As of late, it's been struggling."

The Orioles got to Litsch in the first inning with a pair of runs. Redman scored after a Litsch threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded and an infield hit by Huff gave Baltimore a 2-0 lead.

Roberts increased the Orioles' advantage with a mammoth home run to right field off Litsch in the second inning. Litsch's night ended following the third inning when catcher Ramon Hernandez's RBI single put Baltimore in front 4-0.

Consecutive doubles by Redmond and outfielder Nick Markakis gave Baltimore a six-run lead before Toronto scored two in the bottom half of the inning to round out the scoring.

In other news, the Blue Jays claimed infielder Joe Inglett on waivers from Cleveland and placed third baseman Troy Glaus on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster. Inglett will not join the team this season and Glaus is expected to have surgery to repair a nerve problem in his troubled left foot next week.