Mullins, Santander homer to back Gibson’s eight strong frames

BALTIMORE — The Orioles put a nice bow on their exceptional season series against the Blue Jays by conquering one of their longtime tormentors — José Berríos.

Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins each hit a two-run homer off Berríos, as Baltimore tagged the right-hander for five runs in its 5-3 victory over Toronto at Camden Yards on Thursday night. It handed Berríos his first loss in 14 career starts vs. the Orioles, who hadn’t even won a game started by the righty since the first time they faced him — on May 10, 2016, when he was a rookie for the Twins.

Baltimore finished 10-3 against Toronto this year, marking its best winning percentage (.769) against the Blue Jays in a season since 1994, when the O’s went 7-2 (.778) against their American League East rival. This year’s mark is tied for the Orioles’ fourth-best single-season win percentage vs. Toronto since the teams began playing in ’77.

The O’s would win any potential tiebreaker with the Blue Jays, although one is becoming less likely to be necessary. The club — which reached a season-high 31 games above .500 at 79-48 — has a two-game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East. Toronto (70-58) is 7 1/2 games behind the Rays and 9 1/2 back of the O’s.

Berríos was the last hurdle to be conquered.

Entering Thursday, the right-hander had a 2.66 career ERA against the Orioles, and it looked like the run of dominance might continue. Berríos retired the first nine batters of the night before Adley Rutschman opened the fourth with a single. Two batters later, Santander belted his team-high 24th home run of the year, and his third in two days.

Mullins went deep the next inning, as Baltimore rallied for three more runs in the fifth.

Berríos was outdueled by veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson, who became the first Orioles starter to pitch more than 7 1/3 innings this season. He allowed three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out eight over eight strong frames.