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Drabek gives up one run over 5 1/3 innings

Slowly but surely, the Orioles are exorcising their demons at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

It's been a house of horrors historically for Baltimore, which enters the finale of the weekend's three-game series on Sunday with a chance to earn a rare series sweep after taking the first two against its American League East rivals.

The Orioles are 7-29 in their last 36 games at Rogers Centre, dating back to June 8, 2008, but they are 5-4 in the last nine.

After scoring more than five runs just once in a span of 23 games at Rogers Centre (dating back to Aug. 8, 2009), the Orioles have done it twice (seven on Friday and six on Saturday) in the last two contests.

Toronto, meanwhile, misses out on the chance to go 3-for-3 in series victories this year after taking two of three from Cleveland and Boston to start the season.

Orioles starter Brian Matusz, for one, doesn't mind pitching at Rogers Centre. He's not been particularly successful there -- he allowed five runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings in his only career outing -- but he is looking forward to putting opening week excitement behind him and focusing on pitching.

"Hopefully it'll help," said Matusz, who struggled with his location in his loss against the Yankees. "The first week, making the team and being excited to have my first start against the Yankees, there was a lot of excitement there. So this next start I'm just going to go out there with confidence, attack the zone and get guys out based on location, not going out there and trying to blow guys away. That's the main emphasis for [Sunday]."

He'll be up against another young hurler, Toronto right-hander Kyle Drabek, who tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball against the Red Sox in his first start of the year.

"He didn't rely on trying to get more velocity," manager John Farrell said. "He continued to pitch, I think, the two-seamer that he's using, kept the ball on the ground for the most part, and I think [the Boston game] was another step in a sign of his maturity as a pitcher. Continue to make pitches rather than just think about reaching back and trying to get extra velocity to try and blow a ball by a guy."

Drabek has faced the Orioles twice in his career, and he is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA.

Orioles: Trouble connecting when it counts
• Baltimore has struggled with runners in scoring position early this season, batting .196 (12-for-61) in such situations. The team was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position in Saturday's win.

• Chris Davis' two-run homer in the fourth inning Saturday broke a Baltimore stretch of nine straight home runs that were all solo shots.

Blue Jays: In the clutch
• While the Orioles have struggled with runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays have not this season. Toronto is hitting just .214 (63-for-294) as a team, but .333 (20-for-60) with runners in scoring position.

• Since 1999, the Blue Jays have won 32 more games against the Orioles than they have against any other opponent.

• Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis (one apiece) are the only Orioles with a career hit against Drabek.

Worth noting
• Toronto has outscored Baltimore 196-136 in the last 36 games at Rogers Centre, which includes a streak of 16 games from Aug. 8, 2009, through June 15, 2011, in which the Blue Jays won every game and outscored the visiting Orioles 96-41.

• The Orioles have not won a season series against the Blue Jays since 2004, when Baltimore won 11 of 19 meetings between the two division rivals. Toronto won 12 of the 18 games last year.

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