BALTIMORE (AP) — Tommy Hunter allowed three hits over six innings, Matt Wieters homered off the glove of left fielder Eric Thames, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Hunter (2-1) allowed one run, walked three and struck out three. The only runner to get past first base against the right-hander was Thames, who hit a long home run in the third inning.
Pedro Strop, the fourth Orioles reliever, pitched the ninth for his first career save. Baltimore’s usual closer, Jim Johnson, spent Monday night in a hospital with flulike symptoms and was unavailable, manager Buck Showalter said before the game.
Henderson Alvarez (0-2) took the loss despite allowing only two runs and five hits over seven innings.
With the score tied at 1 in the fourth inning, Wieters hit an opposite-field drive to left that Thames tracked on the run. As he leaped to make the catch, his upper body hit the wall and the ball bounced off his glove and into the seats.
The Orioles didn’t get a runner past first base the rest of the way, but it didn’t matter because the Blue Jays were unable to score more than one run for the first time this season.
Toronto was coming off a four-game sweep of Kansas City and looking to improve on its 6-1 road record. Instead, the Blue Jays lost to Baltimore for the third time in four games over a 12-day span after going 12-6 against the Orioles in 2011.
Leadoff batters in an inning were 1 for 19 against Alvarez until Endy Chavez opened the game with a single. The Orioles subsequently loaded the bases with no outs but scored only one run, on a double-play grounder by Adam Jones.
Thames led off the third with his first home run, a shot to right field that landed on Eutaw Street in front of the B&O Warehouse.
NOTES: Baltimore signed utility player Bill Hall to a minor league contract. Hall was released by the Yankees earlier this month. … The Orioles intend to place 2B Robert Andino on the paternity leave list on Wednesday and probably keep him there on Thursday. Andino was expected to leave the team after Tuesday’s game to join his pregnant wife in Florida. … Baltimore LHP Jason Hammell (2-0, 2.37 ERA) faces Toronto RHP Kyle Drabek (2-0, 2.00 ERA) on Wednesday. … The Blue Jays were seeking to move six games over .500 on the road for the first time since 2003.
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