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Davis' 3 HRs power Orioles past Blue Jays

Aug 25, 2012 - 7:02 AM Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - On Wednesday, Adrian Beltre's three home runs were the Baltimore Orioles' downfall. However, on Friday, Chris Davis' three homers proved to be the difference in a 6-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Davis homered in his first three at-bats, knocking in four runs and becoming the 19th Oriole to belt three home runs in a game.

With his first career three-homer game, Davis established a new career high with 23 home runs on the season.

"It was a good night for him, obviously, and I thought he handled it well," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Davis.

Meanwhile, Zach Britton (3-1) prolonged Toronto's offensive struggles. He held the Blue Jays to two runs on four hits with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings as the O's took the opener of a three-game set.

Carlos Villanueva (6-4) was charged with Toronto's sixth straight loss after giving up four runs, including two of Davis' homers, in 5 2/3 frames.

"He had a good day and he's capable of doing that," Villanueva said of Davis' night. "Make some mistakes and he did what he's supposed to do with them, especially with the last two. He won them the ballgame, as simple as that."

The Toronto Blue Jays activated outfielder Jose Bautista before the game, hoping the slugger would resuscitate a breathless offense that had scored less than four runs in its previous seven games. But Bautista went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts.

After Edwin Encarnacion laced a double into the left-field gap to lead off the second inning, the Blue Jays scored first. Kelly Johnson flipped a base hit to left field, giving Toronto the game's first run.

Davis tied the game in the bottom half of the second. He jumped on a first- pitch fastball and crushed it onto Eutaw Street, located beyond right field.

In the fourth, Davis put the Orioles ahead with another solo homer. He drove a 2-2 curveball over the right-center-field fence to put the Orioles up, 2-1.

The Orioles picked up three insurance runs in the sixth inning. Nate McLouth delivered a one-out single and reached third on an Adam Jones double. Matt Wieters lofted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate McLouth.

Toronto brought in Steve Delabar to face Davis with Jones on second, but Davis greeted the right-hander with an opposite-field home run to left field, giving the Orioles a 5-1 lead.

Toronto picked up a run in the seventh when Rajai Davis' double scored Mike McCoy, who reached on a one-out walk, but the O's quickly responded.

In the bottom half of the seventh, Ryan Flaherty led off with a single. Robert Andino, pinch running for Flaherty, reached second on a wild pitch and third on a groundout. Nick Markakis plated Andino with a long flyout to center field.

Chris Davis struck out in his fourth and final at-bat in the eighth inning against Brad Lincoln.

Jeff Mathis blasted a two-run home run to left-center field to bring the Blue Jays within two runs in the ninth, but Jim Johnson entered and recorded the final three outs to nail down his 39th save.

Game Notes

The Orioles, who lost 12-3 against Texas on Wednesday, became the first team in major league history to be involved in back-to-back games which featured a three-homer performance ... Markakis was the last Oriole to hit three home runs in a game when he did so on August 22, 2006 against the Minnesota Twins ... No Oriole has ever hit four home runs in a game ... Chris Davis' first home run gave him a record nine homers that reached Eutaw Street this season, surpassing the previous mark of eight ... Villanueva lost his fourth straight decision.