*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
When in the middle of a pennant race, things can sometimes escalate. Adley Rutschman drove in a pair of runs, Ryan Mountcastle added 3 RBI's, and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays with a 9-6 victory on Tuesday night in Baltimore.
Coming into Tuesday's tilt, the Orioles were reeling after 3 straight losses, including the Blue Jays taking both ends of a Monday doubleheader. The offense emerged in this one, ending the Orioles skid and giving them their 5th win in 10 games, improving their record to 72-64 in the process.
Orioles reliever Dillon Tate said of the win that "The games all feel intense right now, to be honest with you, especially with a club like the Blue Jays playing solid baseball. It’s imperative that we were able to handle business. It's good that we were able to do that tonight."
The Blue Jays jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, with Matt Chapman hitting an RBI single in the second inning, and Bo Bichette hitting a two run homer in the top of the 3rd. In the bottom of the 3rd, the Orioles took a 5-3 lead, thanks to a two run double from Rutschman, an RBI groundout from Anthony Santander, and RBI singles from Mountcastle and Gunnar Henderson.
In the 5th inning, Chapman doubled in a run to cut the Toronto deficit to 5-4, but Cedric Mullins made it a 6-4 game with a 6th inning RBI single. A groundout from Teoscar Hernandez in the 7th cut it to 6-5, but the Orioles answered with a 3 run 8th inning, making it 9-5 on a bases loaded walk from Santander and a two run double from Mountcastle. Toronto got a run back in the 9th, but they couldn't come back.
Starting for the Orioles was Kyle Bradish, who got hit to the tune of 3 runs on 6 hits and two walks over just 3 innings. In relief, Tate, Cionel Perez, Bryan Baker, and Felix Bautista pitched to slam the door, with all but Baker throwing more than one inning in their appearance.
For the Blue Jays, Mitch White got the start and lasted less than Bradish. White allowed 5 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks, working 2 1/3 innings. 6 relievers came on after White left, with Julian Merryweather, Anthony Bass, Yusei Kikuchi, Yimi Garcia, Trevor Richards, and Tim Mayza all pitching.
This game did not go by without consequence. In the 7th inning, Baker was pitching, and allowed one run on Hernandez's groundout. After striking out Chapman to end the inning, Baker seemingly stared into the Toronto dugout, igniting the Blue Jays and emptying the benches and bullpens as everyone gathered around the infield.
Baker defended his actions, saying that "I think everybody knows at this point, I'm pretty fired up, pretty intense out there. It was nothing towards their team or anything, it was just kind of letting him know that I know that he's talking. There's really no issue with the team or anything like that. I don't think there's any bad blood or anything like that. I just was letting them know that, really."
Asked about what sparked the Blue Jays, Vladimir Guerrero Jr said that "We believe if you're looking at the dugout that means you want problems, or you want us to react. You can enjoy the moment, we understand that. You strike out somebody, you can celebrate. But when you stare at the person it's kind of disrespectful. I mean, maybe you think you're a superhero or something? Whatever. But yeah, he does cross the line."
Up next, the Orioles and Blue Jays conclude their series on Wednesday night. Tyler Wells returns from the IL to start for the Orioles, while Alek Manoah goes for the Blue Jays.
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