BALTIMORE _ The Orioles are proud of their long-standing reputation as a lineup full of fence-busting behemoths, and they stayed in character on the way to Wednesday night's 3-1 victory and a sweep of the short season-opening series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park.
Adam Jones got it started with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that scored Jonathan Schoop and gave the O's a one-run lead in the third inning. Chris Davis followed up that big fly with a stratospheric shot in the fourth that landed in the Orioles bullpen to the delight of the announced crowd of 16,086.
It wasn't exactly a meteor shower, but the O's are hoping they won't need to score a boatload of runs every night to win. They certainly didn't in the second game of the season because Dylan Bundy turned in a terrific seven-inning performance in which he allowed just a run on four hits and struck out eight batters without a walk.
Bundy threw 99 pitches and retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced before giving way to reliever Brad Brach to start the eighth. Brach gave up a leadoff double to Justin Smoak, but retired the Jays in order after that on a foul pop and a pair of strikeouts. Closer Zach Britton did the rest, though not without building the suspense.
The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two singles and a one-out walk, but Britton got former Oriole Steve Pearce to bounce into a game-ending double play.
Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ also turned in a quality start, allowing just five hits over seven innings. He struck out nine and also did not walk a batter.
