Orioles at Blue Jays
Pitching has been a disaster for the Baltimore Orioles, who entered the final series of the All-Star break with the highest ERA and WHIP in the major leagues. However, the Orioles have received back-to-back stellar outings from their starters against the host Toronto Blue Jays and vie for their first three-game sweep of the season in Sunday's series finale.
Renato Nunez homered for the fourth time in six games to set the tone in Saturday's 8-1 rout and jump-start an offense that has scored 53 runs over the past eight games. Stevie Wilkerson also went deep and matched fellow rookie Anthony Santander (three hits) with two RBIs to put Baltimore in position to post its first four-game win streak since opening week with a victory Sunday. The Blue Jays had scored at least six runs in eight consecutive games entering the series but managed only two runs and seven hits over the last two contests to extend their slide to three. Justin Smoak is 5-for-32 over his past nine games for Toronto, which has lost four of five at home to the Orioles this season after winning all 10 meetings at Rogers Centre in 2018.
TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore), Sportsnet, TVA, OMNI (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Asher Wojciechowski (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Trent Thornton (2-6, 5.18)
The Orioles initially had Gabriel Ynoa penciled in to make Sunday's start but decided to make the switch to the well-traveled Wojciechowski, a former first-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2010. The former Citadel product made his season debut at Tampa Bay on Tuesday, taking the loss after giving up four runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings in his 12th major league start. Wojciechowski made 15 starts for Triple-A Columbus, posting an 8-2 record and 3.61 ERA.
After putting together back-to-back quality starts for the second time, Thornton is wobbling as the All-Star break approaches, lasting 2 2/3 innings and getting shelled for seven runs on 11 hits in a loss to Boston on Tuesday. The 25-year-old rookie also had a rocky outing in his previous turn at Yankee Stadium, giving up five runs and seven hits over 3 1/3 innings. Thornton lost his lone career start versus the Orioles on June 11 in Baltimore, allowing three runs over five innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Nunez became the third player in team history (Boog Powell, Manny Machado) age 25 or younger to hit 20 homers before the All-Star break.
2. Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman (pectoral) will not pitch in the All-Star Game, the team announced Saturday.
3. The Orioles claimed RHP Aaron Brooks off waivers from Oakland and designated RHP Josh Lucas for assignment.