Reeling from a pair of defeats and consecutive days off, Baltimore appeared on its way to another set of postgame quotes discussing the length of a major league baseball season.
Tomoyuki Sugano struggled in his second matchup against Toronto, and the O’s failed to produce a base runner until the fifth inning, but the Orioles eventually found some magic in their all-orange uniforms. Heston Kjerstad shifted momentum with a two-run homer, Adley Rutschman tied the game, and Cedric Mullins came up clutch during his T-shirt give away
Félix Bautista closed things out after a drama-filled ninth, and the Orioles secured a 5-4 victory over Anthony Santander and the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.
Sugano never looked sharp in the abridged outing. Bo Bichette ambushed the first pitch of the game and laced it into left-center for a leadoff double. Vladimir Guerrero quickly followed with a run-scoring double to the same location, and Sugano found himself on his heels before viewers had an opportunity to adjust to the color-rush uniforms.
Sugano retired Anthony Santander in his first at bat back in Camden Yards, but Andrés Gimenéz put runners on the corners with a broken-bat single to left. The Jays could have capitalized further, but George Springer popped out for the second out, and Sugano eventually retired Will Wagner after throwing 25 pitches in the first inning.
The trouble continued in the second after a one-out walk. Alan Roden moved Nathan Lukes to third with a single to right, and Bichette brought him home with a sharp single to Tyler O’Neill in right field. Sugano, to his credit, responded by generating an inning-ending double play from Guerrero.
After saluting the crowd in the first inning, Santander entered the batter’s box with an all-business approach in the third. Sugano grooved the former Oriole the type of fastball that a power hitter like Santander wasn’t going to miss. Santander notched his first homer of the season, first homer as a Blue Jay, and first homer as a visitor at Camden Yards on a ball that cleared the scoreboard in right field.
Meanwhile, the Orioles failed to reach base in the first four innings. Cedric Mullins finally broke the streak with a one-out walk in the fifth. Heston Kjerstad, in the lineup against the dominant righty Bowden Francis, snapped Baltimore out of its funk with one swing of the bat.
Francis finally threw a splitter that did not drop below the knees, and Kjerstad launched it 409 feet to center field. The two-run blast trimmed Toronto’s lead to one while breaking up an impressive rhythm on the mound. The feel-good vibes continued as Kjerstad and Mullins took a trip to the 2025 edition of the homer hose.
Francis countered with an inning-ending strikeout of Mountcastle, but momentum continued to shift toward the home team when Bryan Baker entered and notched Baltimore’s first pitching strikeout during a scoreless sixth.
Bowman retired Jackson Holliday before receiving a generous strike three call against Gunnar Henderson. Unfazed, Rutschman stepped to the plate and delivered a game-tying blast to right field.
Rutschman knew the ball was gone from the time it hit the bat. The two-time All Star admired his work for a moment or two before mustering a bat flip in the direction of the Orioles’ dugout.
Ryan O’Hearn followed with a two-out walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Jordan Westburg ripped a ball to the hole in short. The play could have resulted in a go-ahead single, but Bichette made a tremendous play and fired to first. Fortunately for Baltimore, Guerrero failed to squeeze the ball at first base. The outcome placed runners on the corners for Mullins.
Mullins worked the count full before ripping a ball to the gap in left-center. Roden struggled to corral the ball at the wall as both runners scored and Mullins raced to third base.
Baker returned for the top of the seventh but allowed a leadoff double to Lukes. Yennier Cano replaced Baker and surrendered a single to Roden but erased him with a 4-6-3 double play. The grounder allowed the fourth run to score, but Cano retired Guerrero to end the inning.
Gregory Soto delivered a 1-2-3 eighth, and Bautista took the mound in the ninth with a one-run lead. Bautista retired Wagner before walking Alejandro Kirk on four pitches. Pinch-runner Myles Straw stole second, and Bautista issued his second walk of the inning to Lukes.
Both runners advanced when Roden trickled a ground ball to first base, and the Blue Jays turned over the order with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Bautista surprised Bichette with a first pitch slider and moved ahead 0-2 after a 97 MPH sinker.
Bautista spiked a splitter in the dirt, but Rutschman made a strong block to keep the tying run at third base. Bautista went back to the slider in a 1-2 count, and Bichette went down swinging to end the ball game. Rutschman practically started his fist pump before the ball hit his glove, and the backstop continued to show emotion as he hugged his All-Star closer.
The Orioles needed a win like this, and they got it. The Birds will look to keep the good vibes going tomorrow with Cade Povich on the mound at 1:35.
Poll
Who was the most Birdland player on Saturday, April 12?
This poll is closed
35%
Heston Kjerstad (1-for-3, 2-run HR)
(191 votes)
36%
Cedric Mullins (1-for-2, BB, go-ahead double)
(195 votes)
14%
Adley Rutschman (1-for-4, game-tying HR, impressive block with tying run at third)
(80 votes)
13%
Félix Bautista (Save, clutch strikeout against Bichette to end it)
(75 votes)
541 votes total