Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Orioles Continue to Gain on Jays with 4-2 Win
The Orioles and Blue Jays are heading in different directions on the same highway.
Baltimore's collective confidence couldn't be higher, playing (and winning) with nothing to lose while vaulting into playoff contention. Conversely, Toronto's in a skid, falling back to the wild-card pack and dangerously close to diving below the Orioles.
"Right now, the balls not rolling our way," Toronto starter Alek Manoah said. "But we'll continue to battle."
Coming off a 7-3 loss on Monday, it seemed like things were turning for the Jays early on Tuesday, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scorched a rope over the left-field wall to open the scoring and Manoah appeared at his best on the mound.
Nursing a 2-0 lead, Manoah was nearly perfect once through the order. He had the Orioles off balance, racking up whiffs and strikeouts and not allowing a base hit until Rougned Odor reached on a single in the fourth, as Rogers Centre boos showered down. But even the rotation rock couldn't avoid Tuesday's frustrations, allowing a pair of long homers in the fifth to lose the lead and two more Orioles runs in the sixth to hand it to Baltimore.
As manager John Schneider came out to collect the ball from Manoah in the sixth frame, the starter didn't say a word. The righty handed over the pearl, wiped his brow, and walked to the dugout. Despite holding the Orioles to just four hits in his 5.2 innings (two fewer than the Jays had at the time) Manoah exited in line for a loss with little run support.
Looking to spark the bats, Schneider shuffled Toronto's batting order before Tuesday and the shakeup was thrust into the spotlight early. Looking to expand on a two-run lead that would later evaporate, Toronto's new five-hole hitter, Matt Chapman, rolled into the box with a chance to break things open in a bases-loaded spot. After a pair of strikes to start the at-bat, the third baseman pounded a ball into the dirt, serving up a routine double play and handing Baltimore an escape.
Even with Manoah dealing at the time, it was an obvious missed opportunity. While the Jays remain one of the best offensive teams in baseball over the entire season, those needed extra runs have alluded them in recent weeks. In the last 15 days, Toronto's 43 runs scored (entering Tuesday) rank 26th in baseball. Guerrero Jr. highlighted the lineup's play with runners in scoring position as a needed area of improvement after the contest.
"We have no doubt that we're going to be playing better baseball very soon," Schneider said. "Between the guys that are, you know, young and the guys that are established veterans in the clubhouse, I know that they're gonna pick it up."
The Jays had more chances later, but each came and went uncapitalized upon. On the other hand, the Orioles tallied four runs on their seven hits, taking advantage of three Blue Jays errors and creating their own chances as they have for the last few weeks.
The O's moved to 5-0 against the Blue Jays in their last five meetings and moved a half-game back of Toronto for the American League's final playoff position. But, as Manoah pointed out after the game, the Jays are the ones who remain in a postseason spot, and with 11 games remaining against Baltimore, there will be plenty of opportunity to flip the season series.
"We're gonna see a whole lot more of them coming down the stretch," Manoah said. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."
