TORONTO - — TORONTO - -One thing that has distinguished rookie phenom Chris Tillman from other heralded young Orioles pitchers in the past is that he generally throws strikes.
He hadn't walked more than three batters in any of his first 10 big league starts.
On Monday, in a 9-2 beating by the Toronto Blue Jays, the Orioles' fifth straight defeat, Tillman again walked only three.
But they were issued consecutively in Toronto's three-run third, the turning point in what later became a blowout courtesy of the Orioles' bullpen.
"That was one of those things that all of a sudden hit you and then it was gone. How did that just happen? What just happened?" Tillman said of the three walks. "I got in the dugout after that inning and obviously I was mad, but I was shocked more than mad. I don't know what happened there."
With the defeat, the Orioles (60-90) clinched their seventh 90-loss season in their past nine. The franchise had just five 90-loss seasons from 1954 to 2000.
They are 30 games under .500 for the first time since 2001.
The hope is that pitchers like Tillman, 21, and Brian Matusz, 22, learn enough this year to establish a foundation for the future. Orioles manager Dave Trembley sees Monday's loss - which gave the Blue Jays (67-83) a 7-6 advantage in the season series - as another lesson learned.
Because after Tillman's first two scoreless but uneven innings, and his control lapse in the third, the rookie rebounded and pitched two perfect frames.
"He gives you glimpses and he shows you at times what he is going to be all about. That's what excites you about him," Trembley said. "But then he kind of runs into a little bit of a wall and has trouble finishing off hitters."
Tillman (2-4) was pulled in the sixth after surrendering a solo homer to Lyle Overbay on his 100th pitch that gave the Jays a 4-1 lead. He was charged with four runs on six hits in five-plus innings.
The key hit in the third was an unlikely one: a bouncer up the middle by Adam Lind with runners on second and third. The single perfectly split shortstop Cesar Izturis and second baseman Brian Roberts.
The ball nicked Roberts' outstretched glove and rolled into shallow center, enabling Aaron Hill to score from second with the go-ahead run. After getting the second out, Tillman walked three straight, including Travis Snider's RBI free pass.
