TORONTO

Blue Jays beat Orioles 8-4 to end streak

The Canadian Press Published Friday, June 3, 2011 10:48PM EDT

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes, right, gets gatoraded by Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia while doing an interview after getting his first win against the Cleveland Indians during AL action in Toronto on Monday, May 30, 2011.(Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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BALTIMORE - J.P. Arencibia hit his first career grand slam, Rajai Davis had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Friday night to end a two-game losing streak.

Carlos Villanueva (3-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, walking one. He is 2-0 in three starts since moving into the Toronto rotation from the bullpen.

Arencibia's fifth-inning slam was his ninth homer of the season and gave the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead against Orioles rookie Zach Britton, who has lost three straight decisions after starting the season 5-1.

Toronto has won 21-of-27 games against the Orioles and is 16-3 in its last 19.

J.J. Hardy homered for Baltimore, which has dropped six of seven games to fall five games below .500, matching a season high.

Britton (5-4) allowed seven runs -- five earned -- and six hits over five innings, his shortest outing.

Two miscues by the Orioles helped Toronto to a 2-0 lead in the second. After Juan Rivera's leadoff single, Arencibia reached on an error by third baseman Mark Reynolds. Aaron Hill singled in a run and Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a double play before Britton's wild pitch plated Arencibia.

In the third, Yunel Escobar led off with a double, went to third on Corey Patterson's sacrifice bunt and scored on Rivera's sacrifice fly.

Arencibia's slam broke the game open in the fifth. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on a walk to Escobar, a single by Jose Bautista and a walk to Rivera before Arencibia ripped Britton's 2-2 fastball into the seats in left.

Villanueva didn't allow a hit until Hardy led off the fifth with a single to centre, the first of four Baltimore hits in the inning. Hardy later scored on Robert Andino's two-out liner to left and a single by Adam Jones to make it 7-2.

Escobar's broken-bat single in the sixth scored Davis, who had doubled with one out and stole third base.

Hardy hit a two-run homer off Jason Frasor in the eighth.

NOTES: Friday night marked the first meeting of the season between the AL East rivals. ... Toronto is 14-14 on the road. ... In 12 games since being activated from the DL on May 16, Toronto 2B Jayson Nix is 5 for 32. He went 0 for 4 Friday night. ... Orioles 1B Derrek Lee, sidelined since May 15 with a strained left oblique, began an injury rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Bowie on Friday, going 2 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter.