Orioles pound 4 homers and 16 hits to beat AL-East leading Blue Jays 11-4

BALTIMORE (AP) — Ramón Laureano homered and drove in three runs, Adley Rutschman marked his return from the injured list with three hits and two RBIs, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-4 Monday night.

Cedric Mullins, Coby Mayo and Colton Cowser also homered for the last-place Orioles, who amassed 16 hits against the AL East leaders.

The game took a scary turn in the ninth inning, when Toronto’s George Springer was hit in the back of the helmet by a fastball thrown by Kade Strowd. After laying prone from several minutes, Springer got up very slowly and left the field.

Bo Bichette had four straight hits for Toronto before grounding into a game-ending double play. He went 5 for 5 Sunday in Detroit, and the nine straight hits are a franchise record.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Nathan Lukes homered for the Blue Jays, who have yielded 21 runs in their last two games after winning eight of nine following the All-Star break.

Chris Bassitt (11-5) gave up six runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Corbin Martin (1-0) got the win in relief of Baltimore starter Zach Eflin. It was Martin’s second career victory, the first coming in 2019 with Houston.

Baltimore went up 10-4 with a four-run fifth inning that featured a two-run homer by Laureano. Rutschman got the uprising started with the second of his two doubles.

After languishing on the 10-day injured list since June 21 with left oblique strain, Rutschman returned to go 3 for 5 from the cleanup spot.

Key moment

Mullins made a spectacular leaping catch at the center field wall in the fourth inning to rob Lukes of a two-run drive that would have tied the game at 6.

Key stat

Toronto is dominating the AL East, but is 3-4 against the Orioles this season.

Up next

The series continues Tuesday with a split doubleheader, the result of a rainout on April 11. The first game starts at 12:35 p.m. EDT, and the nightcap at 6:35 p.m.

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