BALTIMORE (AP) — Anthony Santander homered twice, Dean Kremer threw six innings of five-hit ball, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-0 on Wednesday night.
The Orioles extended their streak of series without being swept to 80 and maintained their two-game lead in the AL East over Tampa Bay. Toronto fell one game behind Seattle for the final AL wild-card spot.
Ryan Mountcastle went 1 for 3 with an RBI, extending his major league-leading on-base streak to 28 games.
Kremer was expected to start the series finale on Thursday but was moved up a day to replace Jack Flaherty, who was scratched because of “general soreness,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
Kremer (12-5) was pitching on six days’ rest following his start at San Diego on Aug. 16. He struck out five and walked none.
Relievers Jacob Webb, Yennier Cano and Shintaro Fujinami completed a five-hitter.
Kevin Gausman (9-8) made his fifth career start against the Orioles, for whom he pitched from 2013-18. He allowed two runs and five hits with nine strikeouts and one walk over six innings. Gausman took over the AL lead in strikeouts with 196.
Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the third when Gunnar Henderson doubled, took third on a fly ball and scored on a single by Mountcastle.
Kremer retired nine consecutive batters before George Springer managed a single in the fourth.
Santander, the Orioles' home run leader who missed the past three games with a back issue, went deep to right in the fifth to make it 2-0.
He added his 23rd homer of the season in the eighth, and the Orioles poured it on from there, scoring four more runs. Mountcastle scored on a wild pitch by Trevor Richards and a throwing error by catcher Danny Jansen. Cedric Mullins added a sacrifice fly and Adley Rutschman had a two-run single.
SKIPPER IN THE CAGE
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde took batting practice before the game. It was the first time he swung a bat in the cage since 2006 in Lake County, Ohio. “The older you get, the bat gets way heavier," Hyde said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: RHP Chad Green (elbow/head) threw two-thirds of an inning for Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday. Green could be activated next week or the team could wait until rosters expand on Sept. 1 for him to make his Blue Jays debut.
Orioles: LHP Keegan Akin (lower back discomfort) was transferred to the 60-day injured list. … RHP Austin Voth (right elbow discomfort) was reinstated from the 60-day IL.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP José Berríos (9-8, 3.39 ERA) held the Orioles scoreless through 7 2/3 innings on June 14 at Camden Yards.
Orioles: With Flaherty's issue causing a shakeup in the rotation, Hyde has still not named a starter for the final game of the series Thursday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Todd Karpovich, The Associated Press