Orioles on the wrong side of 12-3 rout by the Blue Jays

The rain came early on Thursday evening in Baltimore, causing a delay of approximately 30 minutes and pushing the start time back to 7:35. Once play began, it was not interrupted again by the weather. But the Orioles’ success was interrupted by the Blue Jays’ bats.

Like most ballgames this year, tonight’s matchup started out promising enough. It was actually a really close game until the middle innings — the sixth to be precise — when the Blue Jays blew the whole thing wide open. But let’s start at the beginning.

Cavan Biggio — son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio — got the Blue Jays on the board in the second inning with a solo home run to right. It was Biggio’s second career home run, and tonight was only his 15th major league game. Coming into tonight, he was slashing .146/.327/.220 in 41 at-bats.

Toronto was able to double their lead in the third, which started with a Danny Jansen single. Then with one out, Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each had a bloop single, the second of which drove home Jansen.

At the start of play today, Guerrero Jr. was hitting .255/.321/.448 in 145 at-bats. He would finish the night 3-for-4 with two RBI.

The Orioles were able to manufacture a run of their own in the bottom of the third. With one out, Richie Martin singled and then advanced to second on a passed ball. After a Jonathan Villar strike out, Anthony Santander singled home Martin. 2-1, Blue Jays.

In the fifth inning, Chris Davis had a base hit on a check swing ground ball down the third base line against the shift. You could tell Davis was thinking about a double when he rounded first, but he stopped when Guerrero Jr. went into a slide to glove the ball, coming up arm cocked and ready to fire.

Davis advanced to second and then third on back-to-back ground balls before coming home on an infield hit by Santander. It was the left-fielder’s second infield hit of the night and third overall.

Ynoa would only make it five innings plus one batter before being pulled from the game by Brandon Hyde. That last batter was Gurriel, who happened to hit a solo home run to dead center field. It didn’t look like a homer right off the bat and Stevie Wilkerson made a noble effort in center — albeit an ill-timed jump at the wall — but the ball just carried out.

The final pitching line for Ynoa was five innings, seven hits, three runs, one strikeout and two home runs allowed. His ERA currently stands at 5.02.

Left-hander Paul Fry came on with no outs and the bases empty in the sixth but wasn’t able to get out of the inning clean. Three hits, two walks and four runs later, Evan Phillips was summoned to enter with one out in the inning and one runner on.

And the hit parade just kept coming. The first pitch out of Phillips’ hand was lined into center field for a single, putting runners on first and second with Guerrero Jr. up to the plate. The young slugger singled up the middle to drive home Toronto’s eighth run. A bullet to center by Justin Smoak drove in another run. When the sixth inning finally came to a close it was 9-2, Blue Jays.

Then the seventh inning happened. With Josh Lucas pitching, Biggio blasted his second home run of the game. The Blue Jays’ right fielder pulled this one to right, just like his first. He would finish the night 2-for-4 with two home runs, two RBI, three runs scored and one walk.

Toronto added two more runs in the seventh with a sacrifice fly by Guerrero Jr. and an RBI single by Gurriel. 12-2, Toronto.

Jays starter Marcus Stroman was a lot better on the mound tonight than anyone the Orioles had to offer. He threw 105 pitches in six innings, including 64 strikes, while scattering seven hits and allowing two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts.

With the game seemingly out of reach, Hyde pulled Mancini after the seventh inning, inserting Keon Broxton into center while shifting Wilkerson to left and Santander to right.

Chance Sisco added a run for the O’s in garbage time in the eighth with a solo shot over the groundskeepers’ shed in right. 12-3, Blue Jays. It was his second home run of the season and only hit of the night in four trips to the plate.

Despite a single and an error in the bottom of the ninth, Blue Jays reliever Thomas Pannone retired the Orioles without allowing any runs to end the game.

With this loss, the Orioles lose the series against the Jays, two games to one. Next up on the slate is Boston, who comes to town for a three-game series starting tomorrow night at Camden Yards.