Orioles' 4 homers don't hold up in G1 loss

September 12th, 2021

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles love hitting home runs at Camden Yards. The club has 107 long balls at home -- second in the American League to the Blue Jays’ 114 -- after Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle each homered and Austin Hays went deep twice in Saturday’s 11-10 loss to Toronto in Game 1 of a seven-inning doubleheader.

In Friday’s win, Santander knocked a go-ahead three-run homer, his first since Aug. 25. The no-doubter traveled a projected 423 feet to right-center field.

Manager Brandon Hyde expressed how impressed he was with the swing, hoping that this meant the outfielder had found his groove again.

“Hopefully, that can get him going here for the last few weeks,” said Hyde after Friday night’s game. “That was a beautiful swing. ... I’m hoping that he can carry on with how he swung the bat tonight and finish strong.”

On Saturday, Santander’s 16th home run of the season came on the first pitch of his first at-bat, giving the Orioles an early lead.

Hays extended his hitting streak to 17 games with his second multihomer game of the season; the last was on April 25, against Oakland. He now has four home runs this month and 18 for the season.

“He’s taking great at-bats,” said Hyde. “[He’s] driving the ball that way, driving two balls to the pole side. He's got extremely quick hands and he's strong. He seems like he is staying through the baseball really well these past couple of weeks.”

After Hays went yard in the bottom of the fourth inning, Mountcastle went back-to-back -- the seventh time the O’s have hit consecutive home runs this year.