What looked to be an easy win for the Toronto Blue Jays took a sudden bad turn in the ninth inning. Toronto was up 7-2 at the time over the Baltimore Orioles, bringing in Canadian reliever Zach Pop to close out the game.
Pop in 2024 has struggled, posting a 5.71 earned run average and a wins above replacement at -0.9. The righty gave up three straight singles to the Orioles, which led to the bases being loaded.
Jays manager John Schneider was forced to bring in Toronto’s closer, Chad Green, as Baltimore looked to cash in the runners.
Green surrendered an unearned run from a Jackson Holliday forceout, bringing Baltimore within four runs. In the next at-bat, Cedric Mullins hit a double, scoring Ryan Mountcastle to cut the lead down to 3.
Baltimore’s Colton Cowser, with two outs, hit a single, bringing in Mullins and Holliday, as Toronto’s lead was down to a single run. Luckily, Green got Anthony Santander to fly out and end the stressful ninth inning for the Jays.
The near-blown lead for Toronto overlooked what was an overall great hitting and pitching performance for the ballclub.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended his hitting streak to 20 games tonight, going 3-4. Guerrero Jr. was also a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
Guerrero Jr. drove in four runs total, one in the first on a double, which gave Toronto an early 1-0 lead. Toronto scored two more runs in the inning, as Daulton Varsho scored, and Alejandro Kirk hit a single to drive in Guerrero Jr.
Guerrero Jr. blasted a ball for a home run in the fifth inning, cashing in himself and Varsho. Both hitters would contribute to Toronto’s two runs in the sixth, as Varsho collected an RBI single and Guerrero Jr. tripled to score Varsho once again.
During his 20-game hit streak, the first baseman is batting .507, with 10 home runs over the stretch. Crazy enough, his current active hitting streak isn’t the longest in his MLB career. In 2022, Guerrero Jr. accomplished a 22-game hitting streak during the season.
The hype surrounding Guerrero Jr. is one of the reasons Toronto has any hopes of being competitive come 2025. However, a good starting rotation is also needed to be a playoff team, and the Blue Jays got a taste of that during this series.
Between starting pitchers Chris Bassit, Bowden Francis, and Kevin Gausman, only six earned runs were allowed in 20.0 innings pitched in the three-game series to an Oriole squad that ranks first in home runs in Major League Baseball (141), 3rd in OPS (.771) and 3rd in hits (1018).
Gausman went 8.0 innings tonight, allowing two earned runs on three hits. It’s the 2nd time in Gausman’s last three starts of going at least 8.0 innings. Meanwhile, Orioles SP Dean Kremer went 4.1 innings, surrendering five earned runs.
With the win tonight, Toronto beat the Orioles in a series for the first time since October 3rd-5th in 2022 (the last series of the regular season).
The homestand for the Jays continues as the Oakland Athletics head into town to start a three-game series on Friday. The A’s are coming off a series win against the Chicago White Sox.
