Another easy win seemed to be in the offing. And then the Toronto Blue Jays' terribly inconsistent bullpen struck again.
The Blue Jays gave up four runs in the eighth and Pat Valaika's bases-loaded walk with two outs in the 10th allowed the Baltimore Orioles to finally end their heinous road losing streak and escape Sahlen Field with a 6-5 win Friday night.
"The Jays have taken a lot of heat in recent days, both from Buffalo fans and media, about their ticket price structure here and about changing prices of concessions," writes Mike Harrington.
A season-high crowd of 7,844 saw Baltimore snap its 20-game road losing streak by winning away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the first time since May 5. The Orioles' run ended two losses shy of the American League record set by the 1943 Philadelphia A's. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays saw their five-game winning streak snapped.
Entering with a 5-1 lead, relievers Tyler Chatwood and Taylor Saucedo were the culprits for the Blue Jays in the eighth. Chatwood walked the first two men, and Saucedo was torched for Anthony Santander's RBI single and Austin Hays' two-run double that tied the score.
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The Orioles won it in the 10th as Valaika drew the third walk of the inning from Toronto's Trent Thornton, one pitch after Randal Grichuk failed to corral his foul fly to right against the side wall.
"You cannot come from the bullpen and walk people. That was it," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said after the 3-hour, 36-minute affair. "Five walks in three innings. That's just too many."
Guerrero, who pounded a record 91 Derby home runs over the fences in Cleveland two years ago, has decided to skip the Derby this year.
"We're pretty excited getting a monkey off our back," said Baltimore outfielder Cedric Mullins. "It was a great team win, a great comeback and everybody contributed to this."
Until Baltimore's late rally, the story of the night was big names taking the "Dark Knight" deep.
George Springer and MLB home run leader Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both homered to deep center off Baltimore Orioles veteran Matt Harvey, the former New York Mets starter.
Harvey was a standout for the 2012 Buffalo Bisons who was the winner in the Triple-A All-Star Game here that summer before his promotion to the Mets. He entered the game 3-9 with a 7.80 earned-run average, but was much sharper with his pitches in this one.
Harvey was stymied by Springer's shot to center on a 3-2 pitch leading off the second and Guerrero's drive to the deepest part of right-center with two out in the third. Springer's first at-bat in Buffalo after his return from the injured list resulted in his third home run of the season.
Hope Springs Eternal! #SpringerDinger pic.twitter.com/PmtN7RkUl9
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 25, 2021
"That was impressive. Not many guys can hit the ball out there," Montoyo said of Springer's bolt. "You can tell some guys hit the ball good and the ball didn't go out to center. Vladdy and Springer, those guys have power. That was impressive. it was a ball on the outside corner and he hit it to center, which is a good sign."
Guerrero's drive – coming on the night his bobblehead was handed out to fans at the gate – was No. 25, extending his major-league lead. Los Angeles' Shohei Ohtani belted his 24th Friday night at Tampa Bay.
Solo G 💥 #PLAKATA pic.twitter.com/zf1v0yUlxK
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 26, 2021
Harvey went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. Meanwhile, Toronto rookie Alek Manoah battled through six innings, allowing just one unearned run. He allowed four hits and struck out six.
"It was an unbelievable team win for us," Harvey said. "Something we really needed."
The Orioles scored their first run in 26 innings in the top of the third as Pedro Severino trotted home on Freddy Galvis' double-play grounder. They had been outscored 22-0 in getting blanked the previous two nights by Houston and Toronto.
Manoah was pitching while his five-game suspension was on appeal for throwing at Baltimore's Maikel Franco and sparking the teams' bench-clearing incident last Saturday in Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Sportsnet reported during the game that Manoah's appeal had yet to be heard, although it's possible the Jays could drop Manoah's appeal and let him start serving the suspension Saturday.
Herd bullpen cracks too
Former Blue Jays utility man Brandon Drury drove a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth Friday night as the Syracuse Mets overcame the Buffalo Bisons, 9-8, to snap a streak for each team.
The Bisons (25-19) saw their seven-game winning streak snapped, while Syracuse (12-33) finally broke a 15-game losing streak. Buffalo swept a doubleheader there Thursday and had won the first three games of the series. Syracuse improved to 4-15 at home in NBT Bank Stadium.
The Bisons erased a 6-3 deficit with a five-run seventh keyed by Christian Colon's three-run double. But the Herd couldn't hold an 8-6 lead as the Mets got a run in the seventh before Drury took Buffalo reliever Hobie Harris deep in the eighth.
Mound matters
• Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Kay became the first player in franchise history to record the first seven outs of a game via strikeout when he pulled the trick in Thursday's 9-0 win over the Orioles. Kay finished with eight strikeouts in five shutout innings to improve to 1-2 on the season and drop his earned-run average by more than a run to 5.19.
• Baltimore pitcher Dean Kremer was sent to Triple-A Norfolk after blowing up here in a terrible start Thursday. Kremer fell to 0-7, 7.25 by allowing six runs in one-third of an inning. He walked five and left in a 6-0 hole after Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a grand slam.
"Right now, it’s more mental than physical,” Kremer said after the game. “Five walks? That’s embarrassing on my part and for our team. That’s unacceptable. That can’t happen.”
• The series continues Saturday at 3:07 p.m. with a battle of lefties as Toronto's Hyun Jin Ryu (6-4, 3.25) meets Baltimore's Keegan Akin (0-3, 6.42). It wraps up Sunday afternoon at 1:07 p.m.
