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BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles have relied heavily on power for their success so far this season. They used some of it again for a big win Tuesday night. Matt Wieters hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Baltimore Orioles a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle game of a crucial three-game series Tuesday night.
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The Orioles (72-60) pulled within three games of first-place Toronto (75-57) in the American League East race. Baltimore snapped the Blue Jays' four-game winning streak with the key victory, as a loss would have left the Orioles five back with only 30 games left.
Toronto leads Boston by two games as the Red Sox lost to Tampa Bay.
Baltimore hit three homers in this game. Steve Pearce and Manny Machado both homered -- the 100th career blast for the third baseman -- but it was the Wieters homer that made the difference.
Jonathan Schoop started the game-winning rally with a two-out walk off Jason Grilli (4-2). Wieters then crushed the first pitch for a two-run homer to right that snapped a 3-3 tie.
"After (Schoop) saw five or six sliders, I was pretty much thinking I was going to (look for) a fastball," Wieters said. "Fastball command can be a little bit difficult after throwing so many sliders, so I was looking for something up, something middle, and I was able to get it."
Wieters had taken a foul ball off his face mask earlier but shook it off and came up with one of the team's biggest hits this season.
The catcher's toughness did not surprise manager Buck Showalter.
"He's been a rock," Showalter said. "Regardless of whether he hit a home run to win a ballgame or not. This guy came off elbow surgery, and now he's catching almost every day."
Brad Brach (8-2) got the victory thanks to 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Zach Britton came on the ninth and earned his 39th save in 39 chances this season.
Grilli lost his 13-game scoreless streak with that homer. However, the veteran right-hander said he won't worry about it too long.
"Maybe tonight and tomorrow is a new day," Grilli said. "It's the old cliche. Turn the page."
Toronto manager John Gibbons said these are the type of games that happen when the Jays and Orioles get together.
"Every time we play these guys, it's like that," Gibbons said. "It's back-and-forth, back-and-forth, two pretty good teams. You come to expect that."
The Orioles fell behind early but rode the Pearce and Machado homers to take a 3-1 lead in the fifth. Machado became the youngest Oriole to reach the 100-homer mark and 24 years, 55 days.
Pearce homered in his second consecutive game. He hit a solo shot Sunday during a 5-0 victory over the Yankees in New York.
Toronto tied it at 3-3 in the seventh when Michael Saunders hit a two-run homer off Baltimore starter Ubaldo Jimenez.
Jimenez allowed three runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings and enjoyed facing Toronto ace J.A. Happ despite coming into the game with a 5-11 record and a 6.62 ERA.
The Orioles badly needed Jimenez to come through, and he did it at the right time.
"I have been in that spot before," Jimenez said. "When I was in Colorado, I had to face all the aces, and it's fun. You have to try to bring your A game every time out because you know it's going to be a night when runs are not going to come easy."
Happ turned in a similar effort for the Blue Jays but also came away with a no-decision. The left-hander allowed three runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Kevin Pillar gave the Jays a 1-0 lead in the second with a two-out bloop single to center. He drove in Saunders, who had doubled.
Baltimore wasted several early scoring chances. The Orioles put runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings but came up empty until Pearce tied the game with his one-out solo homer in the fifth.
Two batters later, Machado lined his two-run shot to left-center for a 3-1 Orioles lead.
NOTES: The Orioles did not let CF Adam Jones play for a fourth consecutive game due to a strained left hamstring. Manager Buck Showalter said the team's being careful with him because they don't want Jones to have another issue and be sidelined for the rest of the season. ... RHP Chris Tillman will throw off flat ground again Wednesday and hopefully make it to the mound by the weekend, Showalter said. Tillman is not expected to return when he's first eligible on Sept. 9. ... OF Julio Borbon and RHP Logan Ondrusek were outrighted by the Orioles to Double-A Bowie. ... 3B Josh Donaldson became the only third baseman in Toronto history to hit 30 or more homers in more than one season. He hit his 30th on Monday night.
