Blue Jays salvage a split road trip by winning wild series finale in Baltimore

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The Jays got to exhale and exult, albeit by the thinnest of margins on Wednesday, ending an ugly slide of four consecutive losses — the final three so lopsided that concerns began to mount.

The Jays offence finally regained its rhythm at Camden Yards, gutting out a 9-8 hit-fest to salvage a split of an eight-game trip that could have gone pear shaped had Baltimore completed its four-game sweep.

The unlikely heroes were Myles Straw — who had a three-hit game, including a two-run homer (just his second dinger of the season) — Nathan Lukes, whose three-run pinch-hit homer capped a five-run seventh inning, and rookie pitcher Braydon Fisher, who got two huge outs in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win.

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With the Jays up 9-5 following their seventh-inning uprising, the usually reliable Yariel Rodriguez gave up three runs on three singles, two walks and a costly throwing error by Ernie Clement at second. Rodriguez was pulled with the bases loaded, one out, the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second.

Enter Fisher. The rookie right-hander got the red-hot Cedric Mullins on a swinging third strike, then — on what may be looked back on as one of the most important pitches of the season — caught pinch-hitter Ramon Laureano, on a full count, looking at an 86-mph curve ball for the threat-killing punchout.

Here are three takeaways from an entertaining afternoon in which Jays manager John Schneider emptied his bench, be it positional players or pitchers — including Seranthony Dominguez, the reliever the Jays acquired from the O’s in between Tuesday’s double dip, for the second game in a row.

Bichette strikes again

Not much was made of Bo Bichette’s game-ending strikeout in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader. The truth is his at-bat was an abomination.

The game was on the line and Bichette chased an elevated fastball to cap off an 0-for-5 day.

In his first two at-bats on Wednesday, he meekly flew out to right field and grounded out to strand a runner at second.

In the fifth inning, right after Vlad Guerrero Jr. had tied the game 3-3 with a one-out single, Bichette got the ball in the air with Clement on third, and appeared to have put the Jays ahead. But a video review of Clement coming in from third determined he was out.

Another big moment arrived in the seventh inning with the O’s up 5-4, only this time Bichette delivered, his single up the middle plating Loperfido and Clements to put the Jays in front to stay.

Yet another big moment arrived in the eighth, but Bichette hit into an inning-ending double play.

Wild day for Jose Berrios

Jose Berrios’ start was a mixed bag.

For those who prefer to draw conclusions strictly by the numbers, a case can be made that Berrios had an off-day.
Five Baltimore runs were scored during his 4.1-inning outing, but only two were earned.

What resonated were the two homers Berrios gave up against an O’s team that hit three long-balls way back on opening day with the righty on the mound for the Jays.

It marked the fifth game this season in which Berrios had surrendered a multi-homer game and the fifth belt he’s yielded in his past four starts.

Homer-prone, error-prone

One of the reasons veteran reliever Chad Green was DFA’d involved his penchant for giving up long balls. In fact, no bullpen arm in the bigs had surrendered more than the right-hander.

One of the reasons why Baltimore was able to pounce on the Jays was its ability to parlay mistakes, in the strike zone and on the field, into crooked innings.

A two-run home run would be recorded in the first inning to give the O’s a 3-0 lead.

It was all set up on a Clement throwing error at second base. Clement made his second error of the game, this time at first base, when Baltimore cut into the Jays’ four-run lead.

Mullins, meanwhile, robbed the Jays of two home runs during the series, the latest against Ali Sanchez on Wednesday.
At the plate, Mullins — who is rumored to be traded before the deadline — had six hits, including a home run, in three games this series.

Up next

Having completed a post all-star break stretch that saw the Jays play 14 games in 13 days, Thursday’s off-day will provide a much-needed respite from the grind that is baseball’s marathon season … The Jays will be right back at it when they play host to Kansas City on Friday night in the first game of a three-game series before heading west for six games — three in Colorado and three in L.A. against the Dodgers … The Jays have played exceedingly well at home, posting a 37-17 record.