The late Hall of Fame and Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver had a philosophy about baseball which was “Pitching keeps you in the games. Home runs win the game.” His mantra was “pitching and three-run homers”. The Orioles followed that formula on Sunday as they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays (29-31) by a score of 9-5 in front of 34,476 fans at Oriole Park and a national audience on Peacock.
Setting the tone with his start was Kyle Bradish (3-6), who pitched a 7.0 inning, 94 pitch (56 K’s) gem. Bradish allowed an unearned run on 4 hits, all singles, with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. A throwing error by Jackson Holliday on a potential inning-ending double play in the seventh inning resulted in the unearned run. Bradish gave up a lead-off single to start the game and another single in the second inning before sitting down 14 of the next 16 batters he faced into the seventh. Bradish then allowed back-to-back singles with one out before the error ended his scoreless streak.
The three-run homerun came off the bat of Colton Cowser (2 for 3, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB) in the third inning. A single, a walk and another single by Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Pete Alonso, respectively, scored one run in the inning. Samuel Basallo‘s (2 for 3, BB) double scored a second. With two outs in the seventh, Cowser then hit his homerun 424 ft. to right center field, scoring Alonso and Basallo ahead of him.
Cowser was also responsible for Baltimore’s first run in the second inning. His groundout to second with a pair of runners on base resulted in a run. He scored in the sixth as well and was thrown out at home on a Blaze Alexander single in the seventh inning.
Tyler Wells allowed 4 Toronto runs in the eighth with 3 coming on a Yohendrick Pinango homerun to right field. Rico Garcia pitched a clean ninth to end the game.
Sunday was Youth Sports Day at the ballpark and led to an incident during a Toronto mound visit in the sixth inning. As a result of a “misunderstanding”, a 13 year old fan threw a ball that hit Jesus Sanchez in the right wrist, causing him to exit the game.
The Orioles finished this homestand with a 7-3 record.
2026 Record: 28-32
Next Game: Tues. 6/2 @ 6:45 pm @ Boston Red Sox
