Orioles lose in sloppy fashion; Blue Jays’ Biggio hits for cycle; Ed Reed throws first-pitch strike

BALTIMORE—Those watching the Orioles lose to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night probably will remember Cavan Biggio’s cycle or Mychal Givens allowing four runs in the ninth inning.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde will remember it for shoddy play. The Orioles made baserunning mistakes, allowed two stolen bases and had costly defensive lapses.

It added up to an 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays that dropped the Orioles to 49-102.

Coming home for their final six-game homestand, Hyde hoped for a crisp effort.

“Tonight was not it,” Hyde said. “I’m really disappointed, to be honest with you. I was disappointed from the second inning on. I feel like for the most part this year we’ve competed our tails off. Just fell short quite a few times. I just thought we made a lot of mistakes tonight. I thought we played like a really tired team. We need better effort.”

Givens allowed 10 home runs through the end of July. Then, something clicked, and from July 28 until last Saturday he didn’t give up a home run in 15 consecutive outings.

He allowed the tying home run to Detroit’s Victor Reyes with two outs in the ninth in the Orioles’ 12-inning loss Saturday, and he gave up a blast to Justin Smoak, his 21^st home run, that put Toronto ahead, 5-4.

Hyde doesn’t think Givens is tired.

“I’m seeing 96,” Hyde said. “No. He’s been hot and cold this year.”

Biggio hit a two-run home run in the third, singled in the sixth, doubled and scored in the eighth, and hit a two-run triple in the ninth. He also stole two bases. He scored on an error by Jonathan Villar in the ninth.

Orioles center fielder Mason Williams made a valiant effort to catch Biggio’s drive in the ninth, collided with the center-field wall and was forced from the game.

“He got hit in the head, in the knee,” Hyde said. “They’re going to watch him overnight. He’s not showing any concussion signs, but they’re going to monitor him. We’ll see tomorrow.”

Trey Mancini hit his fourth home run in five games, his 34th overall, when he launched a two-run shot to right in the bottom of the first against Toronto opener Ryan Tepera.

Villar homered in the bottom of the ninth, his 22^nd.

The Orioles’ Chandler Shepherd allowed three runs on four hits in four innings in his first major league start.

“I thought I threw some good pitches,” Shepherd said. “I made a couple of mistakes. They took advantage of it. I was excited to get out there and get that first start under my belt.”

Randal Grichuk hit his 10^th home run in 26 games against the Orioles in the second, and Biggio hit his 13^th, a two-run shot to tie it in the third.

Hyde had no complaints about Shepherd.

“I thought Shep did a nice job,” Hyde said “He just made a couple of bad pitches for a couple of homers. But for a guy making his first major league start, I thought he threw strikes and got ahead of hitters. It took a little while to find his breaking ball. But he did a nice job for four innings and you’ll see him back out there.”

Chance Sisco walked against Trent Thornton in the fifth. After Villar bunted for a single, Dwight Smith Jr.’s sacrifice put runners on second and third. Mancini then hit fly ball to center that scored Sisco.

The play at home was close, but the Blue Jays were out of challenges because they tried to overturn Rio Ruiz’s triple in the first and failed.

The Orioles broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh when Sisco led off with a double. Villar walked against Justin Shafter and, with one out, Mancini singled to score Stevie Wilkerson, who had run for Sisco. It was Mancini’s fourth RBI.

“He’s playing his best baseball of the year right now,” Hyde said. “I love the way he’s getting the ball in the air. He’s just driving the ball. This guy brings it every single night. Love the effort. Love the intensity. He’s a super pro, and he’s taking really good at-bats.”

Biggio doubled with one out in the eighth against Shawn Armstrong and stole third when Armstrong never checked on him at second. He scored on Gurriel’s fly to right.

There were two bases stolen against Sisco, who has thrown out just four of 30 runners attempting to steal against him. He had no play on Biggio’s steal, however.

Even though Mancini played well, he knows the team didn’t.

“Tonight was probably one of our worst games of the year in that regard, if not the worst,” Mancini said. “Overall I’m proud of how we played and have gone about our business all year. We’ve obviously lost a lot of games that we could have won and we’ve made some mistakes, but tonight just felt a little different for some reason. Probably one of our worst games of the year unfortunately.

“… There were several plays that maybe could have been made and we didn’t. Made a couple baserunning mistakes. It just felt like a very winnable game there and we kind of let it slip away.”

Cycle notes: Biggio’s cycle was the fourth in Oriole Park history, and the first by an opponent. Villar had the last cycle on August 5.

Biggio’s father, Craig, had a cycle on April 8, 2002, and the Biggios are the second father and son to accomplish the feat. Gary and Daryle Ward is the other.

Excellent first pitch: Former Ravens star and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed threw perhaps the best first pitch in memory. Reed, who was nearly on the rubber, fired a strike to Mychal Givens.

Reed, who played baseball in high school in Louisiana, took batting practice with the Orioles. Wearing a No. 20 jersey, he also took grounders at shortstop.

“When the O’s made the run in 2012, we used to come to the game and support each other,” Reed said. “I remember tweeting out to the fans, ‘Let’s ride this wave to the playoffs,’ and we sure enough did.”

The Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2013.