There is a new powerhouse in the AL East, and it is the one team pundit’s picked to win less than 70 games this season. That’s right, we are talking about the Baltimore Orioles.
After taking the season series against the Yankees, the Orioles followed suit by taking the season series as well as the four-game series from the Toronto Blue Jays in Rogers Centre.
Outside of game three, the Orioles dominated the Blue Jays with strong pitching, timely hitting and Ryan Mountcastle. Yes, the Prime Minister of Canada, Ryan Mountcastle.
The Orioles improve to 8-2 against the Blue Jays this year and are 24-14 against AL East opponents.
Let’s see how the games unfolded.
GAME 1: O’s 4, TOR 2
The Orioles jumped out of the gate with Ryan Mountcastle blasting a two-run double to start the scoring, and that was all Kyle Gibson (10-4) would need.
Gibby dominated the Blue Jays. Pitching six innings of one-run, four-hit ball, he threw 97 pitches (60 strikes) and struck out five.
Gunnar Henderson added his 17th home run, while Mountcastle picked up two hits and drove in three of the four runs.
Danny Coulombe (H, 19) and Yennier Canó (H, 25) paved the way for Félix Bautista (S, 29), who pitched a five-out save to close out the game, as the Orioles won 4-2.
GAME 2: O’s 13, TOR 3
What would become a reoccurring theme for the series, the Orioles got another strong performance from their young right-hander Kyle Bradish.
Bradish would toss seven innings, allowing three earned runs (17 of 20 games pitched he has allowed three runs or less) on four hits with seven strikeouts. Cionel Pérez and Joey Krehbiel would pitch the final 1.1 innings to close the game.
On offense, five players (Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg) all had multiple hits.
Led by Anthony Santander’s second career grand slam (HR, 20), Henderson (4), Mountcastle (2) and Ryan McKenna (2) all had multiple RBIs. The Orioles would pound out 16 total hits and 13 runs as they routed the Blue Jays 13-3.
GAME 3: O’s 1, TOR 4
Though the Orioles would drop the game, Grayson Rodriguez put forth another strong pitching performance, continuing the starting staff’s strong showing.
Rodriguez (L, 2-3) pitched 5.2 innings, his fourth straight game of five plus innings, and would allow three earned runs, though two of those runs came after he left the game. He struck out six while throwing 96 pitches (63 strikes), as the former top prospect continues to show improvement each time out.
Unfortunately, Shintaro Fujinami would allow an unearned run while walking a batter and hitting two more. This led to both inherited runners scoring after he entered. An error by Jorge Mateo was the icing on the cake.
The Blue Jays, held to just two hits, would make the O’s pay. Rutschman and Mountcastle would each have multi-hit games, but the Birds could only score one run as they dropped the game 4-1.
GAME 4: O’s 6, TOR 1
Jack “The Flash” Flaherty was making his Orioles debut, as he looked to continue the starting pitching performances. The big addition to the team did all he could to live up to the hype.
Flaherty (W, 8-6) toss six innings of four-hit ball. Allowing just one run, Flaherty struck out eight and, at one point, retired 15 straight batters.
Coulombe (H, 20), Canó (H, 26) and Mike Baumann all pitched an inning to keep Toronto from ever having a chance to come back in this one.
The offense was once again led by Mountcastle, who had four hits, 11 for the series. Rutschman (two hits), Adam Frazier (two hits) and Austin Hays (four hits) all had multi-hit games for the Birds.
Mountcastle (1), Rutschman (1), Frazier (1) and Hays (2) had RBIs to pace the Orioles in their 6-1 victory.
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
The BATTERY ❌-FACTOR for the series was one man, Ryan Mountcastle. A noted Toronto killer, Mountcastle was the one to lead the way for the Birds to win the series. And, boy, did he ever.
Mountcastle was 11-for-13 (.846) in the series that saw him bump his average .022 points in the four games. He collected four doubles, six RBIs and scored five runs and added a sacrifice fly.
Mountcastle now has a 1.056 OPS against the Blue Jays for his career. Since his return from the IL, Mountcastle is 23-for-50 (.460 average) with five doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs. Mounty is getting hot at the right time, as he is helping drive the Birds’ offense.
The Orioles will head home with a 67-42 record and a two-game lead over the Rays, as Tampa Bay was off today.
The Birds welcome the New York Mets for a three-game series, as the 40th anniversary of the 1983 World Series Champion Orioles will take place this weekend.
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