TAMPA BAY 2 TORONTO 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida -- Alex Cobb turned an impressive breaking ball into his second straight strong performance.
Cobb pitched seven solid innings, helping the Tampa Bay Rays keep up their home dominance of Toronto in a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
"That was the best curve I've seen all year from any of our pitchers," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "To both righties and lefties, it was quick, it was hard, there was no hump in it. It was absolutely great, and I think that set up the whole game for him."
Cobb (6-8) allowed one run and five hits, striking out seven. The right-hander was coming off a start last Wednesday when also gave up one run over seven innings in a 4-1 victory against Oakland.
The Blue Jays did get some good news postgame about injured slugger Jose Bautista, who had an MRI exam earlier in the day on his injured left wrist.
Toronto manager John Farrell said Bautista has been cleared to take dry swings and hit off a tee on Monday.
BALTIMORE 9 SEATTLE 2
BALTIMORE -- Steve Johnson struck out nine over six innings in his first major league start, Matt Wieters tied a career high with five RBIs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners 9-2 Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.
Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds homered and Adam Jones had three hits for the Orioles, who have won five straight and eight of 10. It was Baltimore's 60th victory of the season, compared to 69 all last year.
The Orioles built a 7-0 lead by the fourth inning against former teammate Kevin Millwood (4-10) and cruised to the finish in their sixth sweep of 2012.
Johnson (1-0) gave up two runs, five hits and two walks in his second big-league appearance.
