TORONTO _ The Orioles haven't been able to win many games without outslugging their competition in recent weeks, which has been an indication of the club's starting pitching woes.
And on Tuesday night, the Orioles grinded out a rare low-scoring win in their series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-1 victory at the Rogers Centre that marked their first victory while scoring three runs or fewer in 23 games. The one run the Orioles allowed, with two outs in the ninth inning, was the fewest since a May 7 shutout of the Chicago White Sox.
With their third straight win four games into their seven-game intradivision road trip to Tampa Bay and Toronto, the Orioles evened their record at 38-38. The win gave them their first three-game winning streak away from Camden Yards since their first trip of the season, April 12-14 in Boston and Toronto.
Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman came two outs short of getting his third quality start against the Blue Jays, but held Toronto scoreless over 5 1/3 innings.
Gausman (4-7) earned his first win in his past five starts _ and his first scoreless outing of the season _ facing the minimum number of hitters through his first four innings.
Gausman, who opened the night allowed the most base runners among qualified starter in the major leagues (his 1.88 WHIP was the highest in baseball), dug himself into deep counts, but he went into the fifth allowing just one single and a walk.
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He was helped early by his defense, which turned a 6-4-3 double play in the first inning to erase a leadoff single by Jose Bautista, and Welington Castillo's throw-out of Justin Smoak on a strikeout/throw-out double play in the second inning.
Gausman stranded runners at the corners in the fifth, inducing a flyout from Kevin Pillar, and was chased from the game in the sixth after putting two on with one out, allowing a single to Bautista and walk to Russell Martin on his 99th pitch of the night.
Jonathan Schoop fueled a pair of two-out rallies as the Orioles took a 3-0 lead after three innings.
Mark Trumbo hit a two-run double off the center-field wall in the first inning that scored Schoop, who singled to left for the Orioles' first hit, and Adam Jones, who drew an eight-pitch walk to reach base and scored from first sliding ahead of Martin's tag at the plate.
After Schoop doubled with two outs in the third, Jones drove him home with an RBI single that gave the Orioles a three-run lead.
Hitting in the third spot in the batting order, Schoop was 2-for-4 and is 5-for-13 (a .333 average) in four games hitting in the three hole.
Mychal Givens escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth by striking out Kendrys Morales on a 95-mph fastball that was high and outside, but credit had to go to Castillo for corralling two wild Givens offerings that would have scored runs.
With Baustista at third, Castillo made a full-extension dive on Givens' second pitch of the night _ his first to Josh Donaldson went to the backstop and moved two inherited runners into scoring position.
Castillo prevented another Givens pitch from getting past him, sliding to get it as it rolled toward the Orioles dugout preventing Bautista from scoring.
The Blue Jays' only run came when they were down to their final out, when shortstop Troy Tulowitzki took interim closer Brad Brach deep for a solo homer over the center-field fence.
Tulowtizki's homer was the first run Brach has allowed in his past 14 appearances. Brach still converted his 14th save and has allowed just five hits over his last 14 1/3 innings.
