Orioles rally past Blue Jays, 4–3
The Toronto Blue Jays let an early three-run lead slip away Monday night, falling 4–3 to the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Toronto is now 77–80, 3½ games behind the Chicago White Sox for the final American League wild-card position.
Fast start for Toronto
The Blue Jays jumped on Baltimore starter Shane Baz immediately. Nathan Lukes delivered an RBI single, George Springer followed with another RBI single, and Sean Keys added a sacrifice fly to give Toronto a 3–0 first-inning advantage.
Baltimore answered in the bottom half when Pete Alonso launched a solo home run off Trey Yesavage.
Yesavage, making his return after knee inflammation, worked only two innings. Toronto subsequently relied heavily on its bullpen.
Orioles chip away
Toronto’s offense was held scoreless after the opening inning.
Gunnar Henderson cut the deficit to 3–2 with a solo homer in the sixth, setting up a dramatic late finish.
The decisive moment came in the eighth. With two outs, Pete Alonso crushed a two-run homer off Tyler Rogers, his second home run of the night and his 40th of the season, putting Baltimore ahead 4–3.
Rico Garcia then retired Toronto in order in the ninth for his 10th save.
George Springer: 2-for-4, RBI
Nathan Lukes: 1-for-3, RBI, run, walk
Alejandro Kirk: 1-for-3, run, walk
Kazuma Okamoto: 1-for-4
Andrés Giménez: 1-for-3
Toronto collected six hits and three walks, but couldn’t produce another run after the first inning.
Turning point
The biggest swing came in the eighth. Toronto was three outs from carrying a 3–2 lead into the ninth when Alonso’s two-run blast completely changed the game.
For Baltimore, Alonso finished 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs.
Injury update
Toronto also lost Brett Bateman, who left after making a sliding catch in center field. X-rays were negative, although he was reported to have a hip injury.
What’s next
The Blue Jays and Orioles continue their three-game series Tuesday. Max Scherzer is scheduled to start for Toronto against former Blue Jay Chris Bassitt.
