Ayala earned his first save since Sept. 23, 2008, overcoming a leadoff single by Edwin Encarnacion by inducing a double-play ball from Eric Thames. After Ayala walked Adam Lind, Colby Rasmus grounded out to second to end the game.
With those three shutout innings, the Orioles' bullpen is statistically the best in baseball, pitching to a 1.96 ERA (13 earned runs in 59 2/3 innings).
“When camp broke, a lot of people were saying that the bullpen wasn’t constructed very well,” O’Day said. “I think, as it turns out, it gives Buck a lot of late-inning options, so he’s not hesitant to bring in pretty much anybody out there. It gives us a lot of flexibility, and we can throw quality arms out there every night. We miss [Johnson], but we’re talented from top to bottom. We can’t wait to get him back.”
The Orioles played small ball early. With his team trailing 2-1, Nick Markakis led off the sixth with a double, one of his three hits on the night. He scored after Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar's throw to first on Jones’ infield single went awry.
Rookie second baseman Ryan Flaherty got his first major league RBI in the fifth, breaking a scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly to left that plated Davis. Davis drew a leadoff walk that inning, moving to second on Mark Reynolds’ single and to third on Nick Johnson’s flyout to right.
Flaherty -- starting at second for Robert Andino, who is on paternity leave -- also tallied his first major league hit, a bunt that was perfectly placed past the pitcher in the seventh inning.
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