The Baltimore Orioles began Sunday’s game in the Rogers Centre with the bases loaded and no outs. Coby Mayo (1 for 4, BB) was at bat with a 3-0 count with Toronto’s Dylan Cease (11-5) having thrown 21 pitches. Twelve pitches later, all strikes, Mayo, Samuel Basallo (0 for 3) and Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1 for 4) had struck out to end the threat.
That first inning was a harbinger of how ineffective the Orioles would be in an 8-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays (75-75).
For those eternal optimists who care about such things, the Orioles are 4.0 games behind the Cleveland Guardians (76-74) in the AL Wild Card race with 12 games remaining; their elimination number sits at 9.
Now to the game. The Blue Jays broke the ice on an Andres Gimenez RBI-double in the second inning. Pete Alonso (3 for 5) hit a RBI-single, his 100th RBI of the season, that plated Dylan Beavers (2 for 4, 2B, R, BB) from second in the fifth inning.
The bottom of the fifth led to starter Trevor Rogers‘ (10-10) demise. He entered the fifth inning having thrown 60 pitches and rather quickly recorded two outs. That was when the wheels came off the cart as George Springer hit a 1-0 changeup for a homerun, Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit a 3-2 sweeper for a homerun and finally Kazuma Okamoto did the same to a 3-2 four-seam fastball. Three consecutive batters, three consecutive homeruns.
Rogers finished the game with 4 runs allowed on 7 hits and a walk and 5 strikeouts.
The Blue Jays slammed the door shut on the Orioles in the eighth inning when after loading the bases, Yaramil Hiraldo walked Brett Bateman. Cam Sanders relieved Hiraldo and immediately gave up a bases-clearing double to Springer before ending the inning with a strike out of Guerrero Jr.
Despite placing a runner in scoring position in both the sixth and ninth innings, the Orioles were unable to produce a timely hit to put a run or two on the board.
Sunday was another example of what has been a common theme throughout the 2026 season, the inability to produce at times with runners in scoring position. The Orioles were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position on Sunday.
2026 Record: 72-78
Next Game: Mon. 9/14 @ 7:10 pm @ New York Mets
