Baltimore Orioles takes three of four in Toronto

Austin Hays and Adley Rutschman had RBI singles in the second inning and the Baltimore Orioles downed the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 on Thursday.

Hays drove in another run with a double in the ninth as Baltimore (67-42) took three of four games in Toronto.

Ryan Mountcastle and Adam Frazier added runs with sacrifice flies and Ryan McKenna scored another with a bunt. The Orioles had 15 hits on the day.

Jack Flaherty (8-6) allowed just one run on four hits and two walks, striking out eight over six innings. It was Flaherty’s first start for the Orioles since being dealt from the St. Louis Cardinals ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Baltimore relievers Danny Coulombe, Yennier Cano and Mike Baumann combined for three scoreless innings.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. supplied Toronto’s (60-50) lone run with an RBI single in the sixth.

Kevin Gausman (8-6) had an uncharacteristically shaky start, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks, striking out six over 4 1/3 innings. Bowden Francis, Genesis Cabrera and Thomas Hatch came out of the Blue Jays’ bullpen.

In the second inning, Ryan Mountcastle reached on a single and advanced to second thanks to a hit from Frazier. Hays then plated Mountcastle with a single just past the outstretched glove of a diving Matt Chapman at third base.

Ramon Urias drew a walk to load the bases but Gausman fanned McKenna for his second out of the inning. Rustchman then singled to score Frazier, with outfielder Daulton Varsho gunning down Hays at home.

Gausman again loaded the bases in the fourth, giving up singles to Mountcastle and Hays before again walking Urias. But he struck out McKenna and induced a Rutschman groundout to escape the inning unscathed.

The right-hander got into trouble again in the next inning, giving up a leadoff hit to Gunnar Henderson. Anthony Santander struck out but Ryan O’Hearn singled to end Gausman’s relatively short outing.

Mountcastle then hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field off of Francis, with Henderson’s run being put on Gausman’s scoreline as Baltimore took a 3-0 lead.

Guerrero chipped away at Baltimore’s lead in the sixth inning with a bloop single down the first-base line. Kevin Kiermaier scored on the hit with Whit Merrifield advancing to third.

George Springer walked to load the bases for Toronto with one out but Chapman struck out and Alejandro Kirk flew out to end the threat.

McKenna tacked another run in the eighth with a bunt down the third-base line. Chapman fielded the ball and wheeled around to try to get Hays at third, but no one backed him up at the base.

He then threw to first to try to get McKenna but the ball flew past Guerrero, allowing Hays to score for a 4-1 lead.

The Orioles piled on in the ninth inning. Frazier drove in O’Hearn with a sacrifice fly and Hays doubled down the third-base line to score Mountcastle and make it 6-1.

KOCHMAN HONOURED — A moment of silence was observed to honour longtime Blue Jays photographer Chuck Kochman. He had captured some of the biggest moments in team history on film, working with the Blue Jays from 1988 to 2017.

ON DECK — Alek Manoah (2-8) will start on Friday as the Blue Jays begin a three-game series in Boston.

James Paxton (6-2) of Richmond, B.C., is scheduled to pitch for the Red Sox.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2023.