Trey Mancini powers Orioles to snap Jays' 5-game win streak
Despite late rally Toronto falls short of extending season-high victory run
Victimized by the long ball for much of the season, the Baltimore Orioles used a power surge of their own to take the lead against Toronto.
Then, after the Blue Jays fought back to tie, a 200-foot, opposite-field flare made the difference in Baltimore's 6-4 victory on Saturday night.
Despite getting three hits from Vladimir Guererro Jr. and home runs from Freddy Galvis and Reese McGuire , Toronto had its five-game winning streak end.
Held hitless by Thomas Pannone through four innings, the Orioles took their first lead of the series with a four-run fifth. Villar homered to left, Stevie Wilkerson and Hanser Alberto singled and Trey Mancini sent a drive into the centre-field seats for his team-leading 26th home run.
WATCH | Orioles snap Jays' 5-game win streak:
After Toronto pulled even with two runs in the top of the seventh, Baltimore restored its lead in the bottom half. The first two batters reached against Buddy Boshers (0-1) before Alberto poked a single to right off Justin Shafer to put the Orioles ahead for good.
'Beautiful thing'
"There's nothing sexier than a base hit the other way with a runner in scoring position," Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. "Love it. Seriously, it's a beautiful thing."
Alberto said: "Obviously, with two strikes, I don't want to take a big swing. I want to put the ball in play. So I did."
Mancini added a run-scoring groundout to help the Orioles improve to 16-38 at home after they lost the first two games of the series by a combined 16-4 score.
Mychal Givens (2-5) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Paul Fry got three outs for his third save.
Toronto was riding its longest winning streak of the season and striving to win a sixth straight on the road for the first time since 2014.
Pannone went six innings, allowing four runs with a career-high nine strikeouts.
"That club is a good hitting club. It happens. Third time around, they saw him pretty good," Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo said. "But he only gave up four hits."