Gausman sharp, but O's fall on walk-off walk

TORONTO -- The Orioles had their chances on Saturday afternoon in at Rogers Centre, but fell, 4-3, to the Blue Jays on a walk-off walk issued by reliever Mychal Givens in the bottom of the 10th.
Toronto loaded the bases in the 10th on a walk, a single, and a hit-by-pitch in front of Luke Maile, who took four straight balls. The final pitch of the game, a 93.9-mph fastball, sailed high and out of the zone to hand the Blue Jays the win.
"He worked under a lot of balls," manager Buck Showalter said of Givens after the loss. "The hit-by-pitch, then that changeup in an 0-2 count he left up to [Kendrys Morales], that hurt him too. He had him set up there, if he just gets it somewhere off the plate or down, because you know he's cheating to the fastball.
After being held scoreless for most of Aaron Sanchez's start, Baltimore finally broke through in the seventh with two runs. Chance Sisco doubled home Trey Mancini, who evaded the tag at home to reach his hand back and slap home plate, and then Adam Jones drove home the second run with an opposite-field single.

The Orioles' game-tying run came on a wild pitch in the eighth, which allowed Jonathan Schoop to score from third on a close play as reliever Tyler Clippard made an inaccurate underhanded toss to Maile.

"You can win games with three runs or less, but we didn't create more opportunities," Showalter said. "There's two parts to that. Creating opportunities, and cashing them in. That big hit's been elusive for us."
Kevin Gausman gave the Orioles a quality start, allowing three runs on nine hits over 6 2/3 innings pitched. Coming off two outings where he allowed a combined 12 earned runs over eight innings, Gausman looked to have better control as he struck out six without issuing a walk.
Gausman really found a groove in the middle innings, retiring eight in a row. That stretch included seven consecutive outs on the ground, too, as the Blue Jays' hitters couldn't elevate the ball against Gausman. He did nearly all of this with his fastball and splitter, throwing just seven sliders.

"I felt like I never got in a situation where throwing a breaking ball is going to benefit me." Gausman said. "I just didn't necessarily have the feel for it as early in the game as I had in the past. My split was really good, too, so I felt like that was working."
It looked like Gausman might leave with a tie, but he allowed a go-ahead homer in the seventh before exiting. A low fastball from Gausman caught too much of the plate, and Randal Grichuk crushed a 418-foot home run to left field with an exit velocity of 110.1 mph, according to Statcast™.
"I was trying to throw a fastball down and away, and it kind of came across the plate," Gausman said. "I'm more mad at myself. We just came back and tied the game up. I told myself I was going to go out there and attack those guys, and maybe I didn't throw my best fastball down and away."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Rally-killer:Mark Trumbo was robbed of extra bases leading off the seventh inning by Kevin Pillar, who made a diving catch in center field. Considering runs were at a premium, starting an inning with a runner in scoring position may have changed the complexion of the game.

Jones out at home: Baltimore had a chance to jump ahead in the top of the ninth with runners on the corner and just one out, but Pedro Álvarez wasn't able to get the ball out of the infield. He hit a to shortstop Aledmys Díaz, who fired home in time to get Jones after he broke on contact.

HE SAID IT
"Craig's one of our best bunters. He did a nice job of fouling it off. It was down, but it wouldn't have surprised me if he got it down. We're scuffling to score runs. We'll take our chances." -- Showalter, on an attempted suicide squeeze bunt by Craig Gentry with Adam Jones at third
UP NEXT
Alex Cobb wraps up the four-game series at Rogers Centre at 1:07 p.m. ET on Sunday. Cobb held the Mets to one run over six innings with seven strikeouts in his last start and had his curveball working. Cobb has registered three quality starts in his last four outings. He'll be up against Marco Estrada, who is coming off his best start of the season, carrying a shutout into the seventh inning against the Yankees.