BALTIMORE—Mike Baumann came in for the 10th inning, hoping he could pick up his 10th win without a loss. Brandon Belt immediately hit a two-run home run, and Baumann had his first loss.
The Orioles produced little offense after the fifth inning in their 6-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before an announced crowd of 20,612 at Camden Yards on Tuesday night.
Manager Brandon Hyde decided not to send closer Félix Bautista out for a second inning after he retired the Blue Jays (70-56) in order in the ninth on nine pitches. Bautista didn’t strike out any batters, the first time he pitched a clean inning without a strikeout, and just his fourth appearance without a strikeout this season.
Hyde has used Bautista four times for two innings, all on the road.
“It’s really tough at home,” Hyde said. “He’s one of the few guys in the league that ever does that, and it’s been on the road. We score, I send him back out if the pitch count is manageable. Tie game at home, I lose him for the series if he pitches again. We need him for the next 37 games, too.”
With Bo Bichette on second as the automatic runner to begin the 10th, Belt his 14th home run on the first pitch Baumann (9-1) threw. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled on the second pitch, and later scored on a wild pitch.
“Belt’s been a really, really good hitter for a long time,” Hyde said. “He was looking for a fastball out over the plate, obviously. He got every bit of it. We had our opportunities before that and didn’t quite get it done.”
The Orioles (77-48) had just one hit in the last five innings. Ryan McKenna led off the ninth with a single against Toronto left-hander Tim Mayza (3-1). McKenna moved to second when Bichette made an outstanding catch and throw on an Adley Rutschman grounder to the backhand side of the shortstop. Ryan Mountcastle was walked intentionally and extended his on-base streak to 27 games, the longest since Nick Markakis’ 38-game streak in 2009.
Gunnar Henderson grounded to second to send the game to the 10th inning.
Toronto closer Jordan Romano retired all three Orioles in the 10th for his 31st save.
The Orioles struck out 14 times, their most since July 21st.
“You look at their bullpen. This is an excellent, excellent bullpen,” Hyde said. “They’re tough to score on. They’ve been tough to score on for everybody. They were really good tonight.”
With the loss, the Orioles’ lead in the American League East was cut to two games because Tampa Bay beat Colorado, 12-4.
It was Oriole starter Grayson Rodriguez’s third time facing the Blue Jays, the first time he’s faced an American League East opponent for the third time.
“That’s a good club over there, really solid lineup,” Rodriguez said. “They’ve got some guys that can swing it. They showed that, too. Third time seeing them, you kind of know the hitters, but at the same time they’ll keep you on your toes because that’s a pretty good lineup.”
Daulton Varsho hit a two-run home run in the second, and Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI double in the fourth to give Toronto a 3-1 lead.
Austin Hays’ double scored Henderson in the first, and the Orioles drove Yusei Kukuchi from the game in the fifth after Rutschman and Jorge Mateo pulled off a double steal, and Mateo scored on a wild throw to second by Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen. Jordan Westburg doubled against Yimi Garcia for a 3-3 tie.
Rodriguez concluded his night with his only 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. He allowed three runs on eight hits.
“Six innings without his best stuff or his best command,” Hyde said. “Really happy about that. Figuring things out … Didn’t really have a slider tonight, threw some decent curveballs, but didn’t really have his slider tonight. He relied on his fastball, didn’t have great command on his fastball, but his changeup was good and the way he gutted through six innings, only giving up three runs.”
Notes: Jack Flaherty (8-8, 4.73) will face Kevin Gausman (9-7, 3.24) on Wednesday night. … Anthony Santander was on deck in the ninth inning, but didn’t bat because Mateo remained in the game to try to advance McKenna to second on a sacrifice bunt. He didn’t get a bunt in play and fouled out with two strikes. Santander hasn’t played since Friday in Oakland because of back soreness. Hyde hopes he can play Wednesday.
Minor league update: Cade Povich allowed just one hit in six innings to earn his first Triple-A win in Norfolk’s 6-1 win over Durham. Povich (1-2) walked five and struck out seven.
Second baseman Connor Norby and rightfielder Kyle Stowers each drove in two runs. First baseman Lewin Díaz hit his 14th home run.
Danny Coulombe pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab assignment.
Connor Gillispie (6-4), Kade Strowd and Connor Loeprich combined to limit Erie to five hits in Double-A Bowie’s 5-0 win. Strowd and Loeprich did not allow a hit in four innings.
Third baseman Max Wagner hit a two-run home run. Second baseman Billy Cook had three hits.
Kyle Virbitsky (5-1) allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings as High-A Aberdeen beat Hudson Valley, 3-1.
Rightfielder Ryan Higgins drove in two runs.
Juan Rojas (1-1) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing four hits in Single-A Delmarva’s 8-0 win over Lynchburg.
Leftfielder Stiven Acevedo had four hits and drove in four runs, and hit his 10th home run.
Rehabbing minor league infielder Adam Hall was 3-for-6 as the Florida Complex League Orioles lost to the Pirates, 15-10. It was the last day for the Florida Complex League and the Dominican Summer League.