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Burnett shuts down Orioles

May 17, 2007 - 3:55 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- A.J Burnett is clearly enjoying pitching at home this season.

The righthander pitched the 17th complete game of his career and Troy Glaus drove in another game-winning RBI as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 to sweep a three-game series.

Burnett (4-3), who retired 13 consecutive batters between the fifth and ninth innings, allowed one run, three hits and two walks while striking out 10. In his second season with Toronto, the 30-year-old is 3-0 in four starts at Rogers Centre this season.

"I'm coming into myself and really being A.J. and not trying to be somebody I'm not," Burnett said. "I'm really just trying to have fun, whether it be here or on the road."

Glaus singled home the go-ahead run in the fifth inning, marking the third time in as many games that he accounted for the game-winning hit.

Burnett retired the first six batters in order before Kevin Millar gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead with his fourth home run of the season.

"He's got one of the best arms in the league," Millar said of Burnett. "When he's ahead of the count, like most times today, he's even tougher."

Baltimore starter Brian Burres (1-2) got into trouble in the fourth inning but recovered nicely and limited the Blue Jays to just one run.

Glaus was hit by a pitch to start the frame and moved to third base on a bloop single by Frank Thomas. Aaron Hill followed with an RBI single to left which tied the game and moved Thomas to second.

The rally ended there as Burres got Lyle Overbay to fly out before striking out both Ryan Roberts and Jason Phillips.

Burres allowed two runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out six in five innings.

The Blue Jays broke the tie in their next at-bat.

With one out, Alex Rios and Vernon Wells connected for back-to-back singles. Glaus followed with a single to left-center field that scored Rios and moved Wells to third. Glaus finished the series 5-for-11 with a home run and five RBI.

Similar to the inning before, Burres escaped further trouble, getting flyouts from Thomas and Hill.

The Blue Jays have won five-of-six after dropping nine games in a row. Thomas said the team chemistry could be one reason for the recent turnaround.

"I think it was rock bottom when Doc (Roy Halladay) went down," he said. "We all just looked at each other and said, 'Let's just go out and have fun and win,' and that's what's going on. We just won two ball games (by a 2-1 score) and that's hard to do."

The Blue Jays threatened again in the sixth but Baltimore reliever Chad Bradford kept the Orioles in the game. Burres was replaced by the sinkerball pitcher after allowing a leadoff single to Overbay.

Pinch-hitter Matt Stairs greeted Bradford with a single that advanced Overbay to second. Phillips moved both runners up one base with a sacrifice.

Again the Blue Jays failed to break through as Bradford picked up back-to-back strikeouts against pinch-hitter Adam Lind and Rios.

Millar's longball is the only extra-base hit Baltimore has had in its last two games. In Tuesday's 2-1 loss here, the Orioles had five singles and grounded into three double plays.

"We're getting the pitching, we just haven't hit" Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo said. "We need to get our offense rolling a little bit. And hopefully when our offense gets rolling, our pitching stays pitching. We've got to put them together a little bit."

Baltimore's Brian Roberts went 0-for-4 to end a 14-game hitting streak.

The Orioles have dropped five games in a row and have won just five of their last 18 visits here.