TORONTO -- It was a frustrating afternoon right from the start for the Orioles on Sunday at Rogers Centre.
After loading the bases against Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease with no outs in the top of the first inning, they couldn’t capitalize as the Cy Young candidate struck out Coby Mayo, Samuel Basallo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand to escape the jam.
In the end, Baltimore batters would strike out 15 times in an eventual 8-1 loss, dropping the series that began so promisingly with a win in the opener on Friday night.
The Blue Jays would break through first with a run in the bottom of the second when Charles McAdoo singled, stole second and came around to score on an Andrés Giménez RBI double. The home side would tack on three more in the fifth thanks to back-to-back-to-back home runs off the bats of George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto.
Starter Trevor Rogers was giving his team a chance until things unravelled in the fifth. He exited after six innings, having given up the four runs on seven hits. He issued a walk and fanned five.
Rogers was clearly frustrated postgame.
“It was a big game for us and I didn’t pitch well enough,” Rogers said. “That one is on me. We needed a win. We have 12 more games, it’s where we’re at. We can moan and groan and complain about where we’re at, but we dug ourselves this hole, we have to dig ourselves out.”
The Orioles would pressure again in the top of the third when Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo worked back-to-back two-out walks, but Basallo popped out to end the threat.
The offense finally plated a run in the top of the fifth when Dylan Beavers doubled and Pete Alonso drove him in with an RBI single to tie the game 1-1. But, they could muster no more in the inning, stranding runners on first and third.
In all, Baltimore went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base in the game.
“We did a great job, especially in the first working Cease,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “We chased a lot after that and once we got people on base we started chasing. It was disappointing.”
Mark it down as a missed opportunity for a team that can’t afford many more of them. With a dozen games left in the regular season and sitting four back of the Guardians for the final American League Wild Card spot, Baltimore’s time is running out.
Albernaz thought maybe his hitters were pressing a little bit.
“I had a sense of that,” he said. “The at-bat quality with no one on base and getting the inning going was awesome. But not being able to move the ball forward and put pressure on the defense and fight, scratch and claw, it was a tough one today.”
While it wasn’t a great day for the Orioles’ offense, shortstop Gunnar Henderson was a bright spot with a hit and three walks.
If the Orioles want any chance of making a late playoff push, they’re going to need Henderson playing like an All-Star.
“I’m just trying to do whatever I can to get on base for the team and build off of it,” Henderson said. “It hasn’t been the season I’ve wanted, or the team has wanted, but we’re trying to build on each day and hopefully make this playoff push and take it into the postseason.”