BALTIMORE -- It's no secret how much the Blue Jays lost at the Trade Deadline. Not just their heart, in Marcus Stroman, and not just their workhorse, in Aaron Sanchez. What they may miss the most are the arms to eat up innings in the starting rotation.

But when those two walked out the door, even with the focus on the core four youngsters in the field, in came increased opportunities for an equally young pitching staff. Saturday was Thomas Pannone’s chance to turn some heads, which he did, outside of the fifth inning.

Long-term, Pannone’s role will most likely come out of the bullpen. Until then, though, he’ll continue to try and make the most of his opportunities being the guy Toronto turns to every five days. On Saturday, he held Baltimore hitless through four innings while setting a career high with nine strikeouts amid what became a 6-4 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards, ending Toronto's five-game winning streak.

“You go out there hungry knowing that you are getting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here,” Pannone said after his second consecutive positive outing. “We have a young group of guys, and it’s fun to be part of it. You want to keep pitching well and show that you have value.”

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After Pannone struck out the side in the fourth, giving him a career-high eight whiffs, Jonathan Villar led off the fifth with a homer for the Orioles’ first hit of the night. Four batters later, with one on and two out, center fielder Teoscar Hernandez seemed to have bailed out his pitcher on a rocket of a throw to catch Stevie Wilkerson going first to third on a single by Hanser Alberto, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. couldn’t corral the short-hop.

A pitch later, Trey Mancini launched a three-run shot on an 87.4 mph fastball up in the zone

“The inning got a little bit long on me,” Pannone said. “One thing leads to another.”

But in the end, it was not the first time Pannone flirted with history and not the first time he’s done so against the Orioles. His first big league start came against Baltimore last season, where he took a no-hitter into the seventh before a leadoff hit from none other than Mancini. His next outing, also against the Orioles, saw him get tagged for seven runs in just 3 1/3 innings.

So Saturday, at the very least, was a more middle-of-the-road outcome for the 25-year-old southpaw -- and one with a little more meaning, since it comes after a handful of more starts to his name and as opportunities abound for the young Blue Jays. 

Pannone has had to do it all to this point with craft. His fastball plays almost exclusively under 90 mph and it averaged 87.6 mph Saturday, so success for him will be contingent on a smart mixing of pitches to keep hitters off balance. That worked for the most part on Saturday other than two pitches to Villar and Mancini he wishes he could take back -- a fastball and changeup that differed by just under 3 mph.

“It helps the fastball, for sure,” catcher Reese McGuire, who had a two-run homer in the loss, said of Pannone’s mixing. “And you notice there is quite a bit of swing-and-miss on his fastball even through the velo is about 90. I think that goes to show that the breaking stuff and the changeup is working in hand with the fastball.”

The only two baserunners who reached before that fifth came via a walk and misplayed fly ball that hit newly-acquired Derek Fisher in the face, causing him to leave the game with a facial contusion in the first inning.

Fisher was taken to a local hospital after the game for X-rays to check for any fractures, manager Charlie Montoyo said, joining Randal Grichuk as the second Blue Jay who needed to visit a hospital after taking a ball off the head in Baltimore.

“He just missed it,” Montoyo said. “He even said it, 'I can't believe I missed the ball.' I really like the kid.”

But for Pannone, he will take each iteration of his night in stride -- whether that be the positives from innings No. 1 to 4 and 6, as well as the learning moments from the fifth. Especially now, since it means fighting for a temporary role as the go-to arm every five days.

“I’ll take the positives out of that,” Pannone said. “And I won't forget what happened in the fifth inning and build off of that.”