Gonzalez a tough-luck loser in battle with Jays

TORONTO -- The Orioles have found out the hard way just how difficult it is to stop the streaking Blue Jays.

Baltimore's bullpen came up short in the series opener on Friday, leading to a walk-off loss. On Saturday, it happened again.

Darren O'Day surrendered a two-run homer to Jose Bautista in the eighth inning, which spoiled a strong outing by Miguel Gonzalez, and sent the Orioles to a 4-2 loss to Toronto in front of 43,261 at Rogers Centre.

"I lost us the game," said O'Day, who exchanged words with Bautista for the second consecutive night. "We have been in a position to win both nights and, unfortunately, both nights the bullpen has let us down.

"We know we're better than that, we have to be better than that for this team to be good."

O'Day got the best of Bautista on Friday, striking him out in a pivotal seventh-inning at-bat. Both showed emotion and jawed at one another before heading back to their respective dugouts. The same type of situation unfolded again on Saturday, with the outcome of the at-bat ending a little differently.

Bautista fouled off a 3-2 pitch before roping a laser down the left-field line that just stayed fair and cleared the wall to snap a 2-2 tie and propel the Blue Jays to their 10th consecutive victory, the longest current winning streak in the Majors.

As Bautista rounded third base, some words were exchanged once again between the two.

"I told him to just keep talking like he was yesterday, because he kind of ran his mouth a little bit after he struck me out -- and I don't know where that came from," said Bautista, whose game-winning homer was his 16th of the season.

"I didn't appreciate it, and I let him know that yesterday -- and I gave him a reminder today that I didn't appreciate it."

O'Day downplayed the incidents, chalking it up to a competitive moment, and was more concerned about his inability to sit Bautista down.

"I made a terrible pitch," O'Day said. "If I make a good pitch, he's probably out."

It was Gonzalez, however, who was tagged with the loss, after allowing a single before being removed in favor of O'Day.

The loss was not indicative of the way Gonzalez pitched, as the right-hander dominated the Blue Jays for the majority of the contest. Toronto's eighth-inning single was just the third hit the club mustered off Gonzalez the entire game.

Gonzalez, who had a string of three consecutive games with a win snapped, put the Orioles in an early 1-0 hole on a wild pitch in the first inning, but he didn't let it faze him, as he went on to record his fourth consecutive quality start.

After allowing a base hit in the first, Gonzalez retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced before surrendering a leadoff homer to Maicer Izturis in the fifth inning. The 29-year-old Gonzalez, making his first start since coming off the paternity list, retired the side in order in four different innings but fell to 5-3 on the season. He lasted 7 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out five.

Gonzalez said he was a little amped up to start the game, as his routine was off because he did not throw a customary bullpen session in between starts so he could attend to the birth of his child.

"I just played catch, it's not the same," Gonzalez said about his off-day routine. "You have to tip your hat to them, they're playing great against us."

Over his last four outings, Gonzalez has a 2.60 ERA over 27 2/3 innings with 19 strikeouts.

"He was outstanding today, he pitched really well," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He has been pitching pretty well for us all season. He gives us a chance to win more times than not."

Blue Jays starter Chien-Ming Wang, making his third start as a member of the Blue Jays, matched Gonzalez pitch for pitch.

Wang, who lowered his ERA to 2.18 over 20 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays, held the Orioles to just one unearned run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings. The lone run he surrendered came in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Travis Ishikawa, who drove in his first run of the season.

"He has great movement and deception on his sinker," said Taylor Teagarden, who hit a solo homer in the eighth inning, his second of the year. "He is able to go in and out and get a lot of called strikes."

Teagarden's homer marked the 10th consecutive game the Orioles have gone deep, which is their longest streak of the season.

Baltimore has dropped two straight and will be looking to avoid its first sweep on Sunday since dropping a three-game set to the Rays from May 17-19.