The bottom half of the Orioles’ batting order delivered in the opener of a four-game series in Toronto. On Tuesday night, the top half showed plenty of power, too. Ryan Mountcastle hit a three-run homer and later added a two-run shot as Baltimore dumped the Blue Jays 10-1 at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays managed just five hits on the night and were outclassed by their division rivals for a second straight game. “You have to execute your pitches,” said Toronto manager John Schneider. “If you’re throwing (crap) in the middle of the zone hoping for a good result, it’s probably not going to happen against Ryan Mountcastle or against me if I’m hitting there.
So you have to execute.” Connor Norby hit a two-run homer and Gunnar Henderson scored three times as Baltimore (39-20) won for the 10th time in 12 games. Adley Rutschman drove in two runs and scored twice for the Orioles.
A solo homer by George Springer was the lone blip for Baltimore starter Corbin Burnes (6-2) over a strong seven-inning effort. The right-hander allowed four hits and a walk and had five strikeouts. “Just a fantastic performance,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.
“(A) total complete game from us.” Toronto (28-32) lost for the third time in four games. The Blue Jays fell to 14-15 at home and dropped to 7-9 against American League East opponents.
“The beauty of baseball is tomorrow,” Schneider said. “I feel like I’ve said that a lot this year.” With regular starter Alek Manoah .
