masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgGiven a chance to gain a win and begin to erase the memory of last night’s poor performance, the Orioles accepted the challenge tonight.
Miguel Gonzalez led the way.
Gonzalez buzzed through the Toronto lineup without allowing a run over the first seven innings on just 75 pitches. He pitched the Orioles to a 6-1 win and a series victory tonight in front of 24,654 at Camden Yards.
He was replaced in the eighth but went 7 2/3 innings, allowing just three hits and one unearned run. He walked three…

Given a chance to gain a win and begin to erase the memory of last night’s poor performance, the Orioles accepted the challenge tonight.

Miguel Gonzalez led the way.

Gonzalez buzzed through the Toronto lineup without allowing a run over the first seven innings on just 75 pitches. He pitched the Orioles to a 6-1 win and a series victory tonight in front of 24,654 at Camden Yards.

miguel-gonzalez-white-side-throwing-sidebar.jpgHe was replaced in the eighth but went 7 2/3 innings, allowing just three hits and one unearned run. He walked three and fanned five, throwing 101 pitches in all to improve to 4-2 with an ERA of 2.93.

His pitches by inning tonight through seven: 15, 10, 13, 10, 10, 10, 7.

Gonzalez retired 14 in a row coming into the top of the eighth, but a walk and bloop single started that inning, and later Toronto scored its first run on a passed ball charged to Caleb Joseph. Darren O’Day came on with two on and two outs and got Jose Bautista to bounce out back to the mound on the first pitch.

Gonzalez’s outing was even more impressive considering the Blue Jays had scored 10 runs last night, 10 or more four times against Orioles pitching this year and 59 runs in going 6-2 against Baltimore coming into tonight. O’s pitchers had an ERA of 7.17 in the season series.

Meanwhile, the Orioles took a 5-0 lead in the last of the second. Aaron Sanchez, who averages seven walks per nine innings on the season, walked Chris Davis and J.J. Hardy to hand the Orioles a rally.

After a sac bunt, Caleb Joseph’s two-run double to left on an 0-2 pitch made it 2-0. A Manny Machado double scored Joseph and a double by Alejandro De Aza scored Machado for a 4-0 lead. After De Aza went to third on a wild pitch, he scored on a Jimmy Paredes infield single and it was 5-0.

That hit extended Paredes’ hitting streak to 11 games. That is the longest streak by an Oriole in 2015.

After batting just .217 with runners in scoring position over the past eight games, the Orioles went 4-for-5 with runners in scoring position in that inning. After scoring five runs or more just twice in the last 11 games, the O’s got five early runs tonight.

O’s second baseman Rey Navarro led off the last of the eighth with a solo homer to left on a 1-0 pitch off Bret Cecil. It was his first big league home run.

The Orioles won a series against Toronto for the first time this year. They improved to 3-6 against the Blue Jays, and to 14-15 in AL East games. Now 15-17 for the season and 8-5 at home, the Orioles take Thursday off before hosting the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend.