Blue Jays beat Orioles 12-6

Edwin Encarnacion hit Toronto’s first grand slam of the season and J.P. Arencibia added a two-run homer as the Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 12-6 on Thursday.

Encarnacion’s slam into the left-field foul net off Pedro Strop followed three straight walks by Baltimore’s bullpen in the sixth inning. He was matched by Arencibia with four RBIs each for the Blue Jays (20-27).

Watch highlights of the game courtesy of Sportsnet

Starter Brandon Morrow (2-3) looked in control until the eighth inning when he gave up back-to-back homers. He finished the game with a season-high six earned-runs allowed on 10 hits, with five strikeouts and a walk.

Orioles first-baseman Chris Davis hit his major-league leading 15th home run of the season, while Nick Markakis and Adam Jones also went deep. Star third-baseman Manny Machado chipped in with three doubles.

The game featured the major-league debut for hard-throwing pitcher Kevin Gausman (0-1), who was drafted by Baltimore fourth overall in 2012. The 22-year-old right-hander came into the game with just 13 games of pro experience and no appearances above double-A.

Gausman was effective early on the strength of a fastball that touched 98 miles per hour, but he lasted just five innings after surrendering four earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

The Orioles (25-22) opened the scoring in the third inning after a double steal by Chris Dickerson and Nate McLouth. That set the stage for Machado, who drove in both runners with a double into left field. The double was Machado’s major-league leading 20th of the season, and he made it 21 with a ground-rule double in the fifth.

Davis, who hit nine homers against the Blue Jays last season, gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead with a solo shot to right field in the fourth.

Toronto cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the fourth. Adam Lind and Arencibia hit back-to-back doubles to get the Blue Jays on the scoreboard. Then Brett Lawrie was called safe at first on a bunt down the first-base line that Davis argued was foul, and Gausman walked Colby Rasmus to load the bases with no outs.

A sacrifice fly by Emilio Bonifacio scored Arencibia, but Munenori Kawasaki popped up a foul and Melky Cabrera lined out to end the inning.

Lind and Arencibia were back at it in the fifth. Toronto’s designated hitter singled and he trotted home with Arencibia after the Jays catcher sent a two-run drive into the left-field bullpen for a 4-3 lead.

The game turned contentious in the sixth inning when Rasmus’s hit forced Nate McLouth to dive into the left-field stands to make the catch. He went out of view but popped up with the ball in his glove as Blue Jays fans around him waved off the catch. That prompted a drink thrown at McLouth from the stands and a trip to the outfield by the umpires and Baltimore manager Buck Showalter.

In the end, Rasmus was ruled out, McLouth stayed in the game and Encarnacion’s grand slam later in the inning put Toronto ahead for good.

J.J. Hardy scored in the seventh for Baltimore, which made a game of it in the eighth when Markakis and Jones hit back-to-back home runs off Morrow.

The Blue Jays added plenty of insurance in the bottom of the inning. First, Anthony Gose stole home from second base on a passed ball by O’s reliever T.J. McFarland for a 9-6 lead. Gose just barely beat the relay and home plate umpire Tony Randazzo’s safe call prompted another visit from Showalter.

Encarnacion and Mark DeRosa walked to load the bases before Arencibia knocked in his fourth run of the night. Lawrie followed with a broken bat single to score Encarnacion, and Rasmus hit a sac fly to bring home DeRosa for a 12-6 lead in an inning that saw every Blue Jays hitter visit the plate.