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TORONTO – For the last few weeks, the Orioles had been the ones doing the walkoffs.
In fact, Baltimore had won four consecutive games in that fashion back at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
This afternoon in Toronto, though, Baltimore was on the other side of things in a 5-4 loss.
The Gatorade was far less cold.
Alejandro Kirk was the hero for the Blue Jays with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth as Toronto stormed back with four runs in the final two innings of play.
Baltimore's bullpen became the story of the game, but to kick things off, it was the starting pitching matchup, featuring two legends of the game.
For the Orioles, it was Tomoyuki Sugano, winner of the Central League Most Valuable Player three times in Japan. For the Blue Jays, it was Max Scherzer, winner of the Cy Young award three times in MLB.
Both lived up to their lofty legacies in the Rogers Centre, but it was Scherzer's side that prevailed.
It was the orange and black birds that looked strong early, though.
Single, walk, double, RBI-groundout. That’s how the Orioles started this afternoon’s clash with Scherzer, the future Hall of Famer.
Jackson Holliday got things started with his 17th hit in his last 13 games. Dylan Beavers followed him with a walk, as he’s known to do, and Gunnar Henderson wasted no time bringing in the first run of the game with a 112.5 mph double off the right-field wall. That was a welcome sight for the star shortstop, who had collected just three hits in the month entering today’s game.
In the bottom of the frame, though, the O’s had a scare with their legendary starter.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., not known for his soft contact, drilled a 112.6 mph comebacker that connected with the lower left leg of Sugano. In his last outing, Sugano had to be removed from the game after being hit in the right foot. Leave it to the baseball gods to even the distribution. This time, though, the righty stayed in the game.
"At the time I got hit, it was pretty painful, but gradually it was complying," Sugano said postgame. "I got hit last week, too, so I wanted to throw more."
He did so in impressive fashion.
In the second, Sugano struck out the side in order on just twelve total pitches. He faced the minimum in the third, too, inducing a double play after Tyler Heineman got the Blue Jays in the hit column.
Same story in the fourth, too. Three consecutive groundouts in the heart of Toronto’s order.
"It was the third time facing against them today," Sugano said. "I’ve watched a lot of videos repeatedly and I had a pretty good game plan going into the game."
But while the former NPB mega-star cruised, Baltimore wasn’t able to create any more separation against Scherzer.
It did take him 91 pitches to get through five, but the righty finished with just two earned runs surrendered.
As veterans often find a way to do, the right-hander settled in, blanking the O’s through his next four innings of work after a rocky first. Despite feeling in control of the game, Baltimore’s advantage was far from a safe one.
Especially after it was cut in half in the bottom of the fifth.
Leading off the inning, Addison Barger drove a sweeper into the right-field bleachers for his 20th home run of the season. 19 of those 20 long balls this season have come against right-handed pitching.
It cut the O’s lead to 2-1, but Sugano settled right back down.
After completing six innings of work with just the one earned run allowed, the veteran righty had his first quality start since August 8 against the Athletics. That’s all the more impressive considering the fact that the Blue Jays entered play with the best team batting average and fourth-most runs scored in the game. His left leg certainly didn't feel the best, either.
Six innings was all he would get to complete, though.
Despite only throwing 63 pitches in the game, with the third time through the order looming, Sugano was pulled in favor of Rico Garcia.
It wasn't related to the leg.
"That was my decision, he was doing great," Tony Mansolino said. "Tomo, super tough, really impressive, just kind of fighting through. He got smoked, I mean that was hit hard off the bat. He gave us what he gave us, he threw the ball great.
For me, right there in the seventh inning, you’ve got Vlad leading off the top of the seventh, we’re going for the win right there. Just kind of knowing that lineup, third time through, it’s an important game for us to try to win a game and stay in this series."
Garcia has impressed in his first 13 games in an Orioles uniform, to the tune of a 2.92 ERA and 1.216 WHIP. He didn’t impress against the first two batters he faced this afternoon, allowing a Vladdy single and handing out a free pass to Barger.
But the veteran bounced back, getting Davis Schneider to bounce into a double play and striking out Daulton Varsho.
Gotta keep things interesting.
In the top of the eighth, Beavers walked yet again, his third free pass of the afternoon and his 20th walk of the season. In just 23 games, the young outfielder improved his on-base percentage to .460 with just two more strikeouts than walks.
A few batters later, fellow rookie Samuel Basallo delivered a much-needed insurance run.
In yet another display of impressive opposite-field power, the catcher stayed with a low-and-away splitter and drove it off the left-field wall, scoring Henderson and extending the O's lead to 3-1. Emmanuel Rivera almost extended that advantage to 5-1, but right fielder Nathan Lukes made a nice sliding play to keep the score right where it was.
5-1 would've felt a lot more comfortable.
Kade Strowd took the ball in the eighth, allowed two singles and recorded two outs. With runners on first and third, he gave way to Keegan Akin, who was on for a four-out save opportunity.
Akin's first challenger was Kirk, who promptly took Akin back up the middle for an RBI-single, cutting Baltimore's lead to 3-2. With runners on the corners once again, Guerrero Jr. stepped into the box. He walked on five pitches to load the bases for Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
IKF grounded out to first, and the O's were out of the inning with just one run surrendered.
They got one right back in the ninth.
Coby Mayo didn't miss a hanging curveball from Braydon Fisher, sending it 403 feet to left field for a solo home run. His eighth of the season gave Baltimore a 4-2 lead and a bit more breathing room.
Baltimore needed every bit.
With one away in the ninth, a throwing error from Akin on a drag bunt from Varsho put the speedy center fielder on second base. It also spelled the end of the road for Akin, who gave way to Yennier Cano.
"I think Akin did his job out there tonight, and I think sometimes just baseball happens," Basallo said of Akin.
Cano has been sharper as of late, with just two earned runs allowed in his last 10 games. But the first batter he faced, Ernie Clement, lined a single to left to put runners on the corners, unfortunately familiar territory for the O's 'pen.
This time, the Blue Jays answered the call.
Three consecutive singles off Cano tied the game and brought George Springer to the plate with one out and runners on first and second. Catcher's interference from Basallo put him on first and loaded the bases for Kirk, who had an RBI just one inning before.
Kirk flew a ball to center and a sacrifice fly won it for the Blue Jays.
"Just left some pitches up in the zone right there," Mansolino said. "Lately we’ve had some … I think he ran, like, six appearances scoreless or six innings scoreless, had thrown the ball well. Last couple outings they put the ball in play on him. Some balls went through right there, just probably didn’t make the right pitches in the right locations right there and paid the price for it."
It's been a down season across the board for Cano, who saw his ERA balloon above 5.00 on the year, a far cry from his 2.11 ERA and an All-Star appearance in 2023.
Without a clear "closer" on the roster, it's been up to Mansolino to piece together the final innings of ballgames without an obvious order of operations. The Orioles got to the ninth with a two-run advantage but couldn't close things out.
They'll look to avoid the sweep tomorrow afternoon.
