Marcum, Blue Jays bow meekly to Orioles

The Toronto Blue Jays sent Shaun Marcum to the mound to kick off their final homestand this season, and likely watched him throw his final pitch this season.

Marcum was forced to leave with numbness in his right forearm in the top of the third inning of Toronto's 2-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles before a crowd of 25,746 at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night.

Depending on the severity of the injury, the right-hander could be shut down for the rest of the season.

"We will see what the doctors say," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "If they recommend we shut him down, we probably will."  

Marcum (9-7) was charged with one run on two hits and three walks with one strikeout, throwing just 28 of 52 pitches for strikes.

"Nobody wants to end the season hurt," he said. "Everyone wants to go out with a bang.

"If there is nothing wrong, I do not have anything guaranteed for me next year, so I have got to come out and pitch and show these guys that I can be in the rotation next year as well."

Baltimore rookie left-hander Chris Waters halted a three-game losing skid, hurling a complete-game four-hitter in just his ninth major-league start.

"For me to be able to complete the game today with a shutout, that is special," said Waters (3-3), who struck out three batters and walked two.

"Sometimes, you don't have what you need to do it. But tonight was special."  

"He had very good tempo," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "He looked like he was in complete control from the first pitch of the game to the end.

"He didn't give in, didn't try to do too much, didn't change his approach. He stuck with it and he threw strikes.

"He got ahead and didn't try too overthrow. When they fouled pitches off, he kept coming right at them.

"He deserved an opportunity to finish the game. I'm real happy for him, and so is the team."

Rookie Travis Snider's eighth-inning double was the only extra-base hit for the Blue Jays (80-71), who trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 10 games in the American League East Division standings and the Boston Red Sox by nine games for the AL wild card. 

"We were flat with the bats, that's for sure," Gaston said.

Scott homers off Parrish

Luke Scott's 23rd home run of the season, a solo shot to centre field off Parrish, made it 2-0 in the fourth inning for the Orioles (67-82).

"That was the real deal," Trembley said. "He didn't miss it."

Melvin Mora was ejected for arguing a called third strike for the first out of the third inning.

He will likely be fined for flicking a bat onto the field from the dugout.

"That was my reaction," Mora said. "If I did something wrong, I apologize for that.

"The players get suspended. But my question is, 'Who suspends the umpire?'"

Marcum lost command

Marcum, shelved a month with elbow problems earlier this season, lost command of the strike zone in the third inning, issuing a walk to Juan Castro, a run-scoring double to Brian Roberts that eluded Snider in left field and another walk to Nick Markakis.

Gaston and trainer George Poulis bounded out of the dugout at the point, and lifted Marcum in favour of reliever John Parrish.

Marcum was shelved July 21 because of strained ligaments in the elbow and forearm. 

At the time, he ranked third in the American League with a 2.65 earned-run average and held opponents to a league-low .198 batting average through 15 starts.

Marcum returned to the rotation on July 22, but he struggled with inconsistency in seven starts and was demoted Aug. 22 to the triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs to work out the kinks.  

Marcum entered Tuesday's contest with a 1-0 record and 1.26 ERA in two starts since being recalled Sept. 2.