After winning the first game of the series, followed by a rainout yesterday, which pushed the previous 2nd game of the series till later in the season, the Toronto Blue Jays had a chance to sweep their first series of the season, facing the Baltimore Orioles, but one swing by Adley Rutschman resulted in a 3-2 loss for the Jays.
Toronto had a chance to close out the game in the ninth, leading 2-1 and bringing in closer Jordan Romano. After a groundball alluded Jays Second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jordan Westburg reached on a single, bringing up Rutschman.
Rutschman hit out a fastball from Romano that barely went over the scoreboard at Camden Yards to walk it off for Baltimore. In the series, Rutchman went 4-8 and hit three home runs.
The game felt like a waste of Toronto’s pitching, as between the Jays bullpen and SP Yusei Kikuchi, only three earned runs were allowed in eight innings to a Baltimore team ranked fifth in the league for OPS (.746) before today’s game.
For Kikuchi, he came into the game feeling confident. The lefty was 10th in MLB for starters in ERA (2.64) and 15th in strikeouts (55).
Things didn’t start the way Kikuchi wanted. The first batter for the Orioles, Jordan Westburg, took the starter deep, and Baltimore had an early 1-0 lead.
Kikuchi battled throughout the game, giving up at least one hit in every inning, which elevated his pitch count and forced the starter to leave before five innings.
Overall, Kikuchi went 4 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run and striking out nine. Kikuchi has now given up two earned runs or less in seven starts this season.
Yimi Garcia came in big for Toronto in the seventh to preserve Toronto’s prior 2-1 lead. Baltimore had two runners on 2nd and 3rd, but Garcia would strike out Westburg, get Ryan Mountcastle to pop up, and ground out Gunnar Henderson.
Garcia currently leads relievers in MLB in WHIP at (0.59), and his ERA sits at an impressive (0.53).
Meanwhile, Toronto’s lineup faced a tough pitcher in Kyle Bradish, who was making his second start of the season. Bradish was third in the American League in ERA last year, with a 2.83 ERA, and made 18 quality starts.
While Toronto’s offence started off slow, Bo Bichette would come through for the Jays lone runs in the Third, doubling off Bradish to drive in two runs. Bichette collected two hits in the game and is now on a six-game hitting streak.
Bradish pitched four innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out three. Baltimore came into the game ranking fifth in MLB for starters’ ERA (3.26).
Toronto could muster only two runs as the team struggled with hitting with RISP again, now hitting .229 on the season with runners on.
Toronto will fly back home for an off day tomorrow before starting a series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday. The two teams split their first meeting against each other in March, with both squads winning two games a piece.
