Joe Saunders shines as Baltimore Orioles crush Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 – MLB Update
Baltimore Orioles continued their impressive winning streak as they shut-out the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario on Monday, September 3 in the opening game of their three match series.
After beating the New York Yankees 2-1 in their previous series, Buck Showalter and company continued the good work against the Blue Jays to improve their chances of making it to the playoffs. Credit should be given to Orioles’ pitching rotation that has
produced some outstanding results after the All Star Break.
Starting pitcher Joe Saunders produced a match winning performance as he gave up just three hits in six plus solid innings to grab his first win of the season.
"You think about it," he said, smiling. "I thought about it after the first. I was like 'Ooh, nice. I didn't give up a hit in the first.'"
"When I got traded over here they had a great thing going," Saunders said. "You just want to come over here and contribute as much as you can. You don't want to mess it up and get blown up a lot."
"Today he settled in a little bit more," catcher Matt Wieters said. "He was definitely in control the whole game and was able to mix in different off-speed pitches."
Using his fastballs and sliders extremely effectively, he created all sorts of problems for the Blue Jays’ batting line-up. Surely, he will be looking to continue his good work on his next start to build on some much needed confidence.
Relief pitchers Luis Ayala, Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson combined to pitch three scoreless innings to help Orioles complete a deserving victory.
Nate McLouth provided Orioles with a perfect start as he sacrificed to the pitcher in the second inning to put his side on the board. Nick Markakis doubled the lead with an RBI double to left in the fifth inning.
However, the star of the show was J.J. Hardy who kept the pressure on Toronto by driving in critical runs in the fifth and the eighth. For the Blue Jays, J.A. Happ gave up six hits and three runs in five innings to take his second loss of the year.
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