Trevor Rogers gave the Orioles the kind of start they needed, then the game slipped away in a hurry. Baltimore held a 5-0 lead before Toronto scored six unanswered runs for a 6-5 comeback win at Camden Yards.
The loss erased a strong night from Rogers and left Baltimore at 26-32, now three games behind Toronto in the race for third place. The Orioles can still only hope to split the series as they finish the homestand.
Rogers looked sharp before the seventh
Rogers found a rhythm early and carried a shutout into the seventh inning. He retired 12 straight hitters before Brandon Valenzuela doubled with one out in the sixth, and his command kept Toronto from building much offense for most of the night.
Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz praised the fastball location and the way it opened up Rogers’ changeup and sweeper. Jackson Holliday also said Rogers looked strong behind the defense, calling it “awesome” to watch him work.
Rogers, though, admitted he faded late. He said he got “too amped up” in the seventh and tried to overpower hitters with fastballs, adding that the Blue Jays were ready for it the third time through the order.
The turning point came in the seventh
Toronto broke through after Rogers returned with a 5-0 lead and a pitch count of 74. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. opened the inning with a single, Kazuma Okamoto followed with a two-run homer, and after Daulton Varsho doubled while Tyler Wells was warming, Rogers stayed in to face Charles McAdoo.
McAdoo barely cleared the right-field fence for a two-run homer in his major league debut, and Rogers did not retire a batter in the inning. Albernaz later said he should have gone to the bullpen sooner, while Rogers called it a learning moment for both himself and the manager.
Rogers lowered his ERA from 6.96 to 6.84, but the bigger story was the collapse after he left the game in control. Wells retired his three batters after replacing him, but the damage had already changed the night.
Baltimore built a five-run lead
The Orioles scored first when Toronto starter Adam Macko, making his first major league start, struggled with command in the second. Samuel Basallo singled, Leody Taveras also reached, and Coby Mayo lined out hard before the Blue Jays turned to former Oriole Austin Voth.
Voth immediately ran into trouble. Jackson Holliday singled in the third, Adley Rutschman worked a four-pitch walk, and Basallo drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly.
Holliday then lifted a splitter onto the flag court for a two-out homer in the fourth, stretching the lead to 3-0. In the fifth, a Pete Alonso homer to right-center and Basallo’s second homer of the night pushed Baltimore ahead 5-0.
Holliday said he felt good at the plate and believed the offense saw the ball well early. After the fifth inning, however, the Orioles had no more hits.
Toronto kept chipping away
The Blue Jays finally started creating pressure in the second inning when Daulton Varsho tripled to center, though Rogers escaped without allowing a run. Baltimore’s defense helped him, including a diving catch by Taylor Ward near the line in the third.
Toronto’s comeback became complete in the eighth after Yennier Cano entered two nights after leaving a game with hamstring tightness. George Springer and Ernie Clement opened the inning with singles, and Guerrero ripped a 110.1 mph double to left to score both runners and tie the game.
Keegan Akin later stranded Guerrero at third, but Baltimore could not recover the lead. Clement’s two-out error in the ninth kept the Orioles alive for a moment, yet Braylon Fisher finished the save and sealed Toronto’s 6-5 win.
A game the Orioles felt they should have won
The loss was especially frustrating because Baltimore had multiple chances to put the game away while Rogers was dealing. Voth, who surrendered all three home runs as the bulk reliever, finished with five runs allowed over 3 1/3 innings.
Albernaz said the lineup card and bullpen plan were built with Voth in mind, and he trusted Cano for the eighth because of the right-handed section of the order. Still, the night ended with Baltimore’s bullpen unable to stop the slide after Rogers lost command.
Holliday summed up the offensive frustration by noting that the Orioles swung well early but that Toronto eventually made the better pitches. The result left Baltimore with a missed chance in a game that had looked under control for six innings.
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