Orioles top Blue Jays 9-6 in heated matchup of contenders

BALTIMORE — Adley Rutschman hit a bases-loaded double during a five-run third inning, and the Baltimore Orioles rebounded with a 9-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night in a heated game in which both benches briefly emptied in the middle of the seventh.

The Orioles pulled within 3 1/2 games of Toronto for the last American League wild card. They were swept by the Blue Jays in a doubleheader Monday that opened this crucial series.

The Orioles trailed 3-0 on Tuesday before rallying to snap Toronto’s five-game winning streak.

Baltimore seemed to be treating this like a must-win game — or close to it. Dillon Tate (4-3), Cionel Pérez and Félix Bautista all worked more than an inning in relief. Four Orioles relievers combined to throw six innings, with Bautista getting the final six outs for his 12th save.

Bo Bichette homered again for Toronto — his fourth in the past two games — but Mitch White (0-4) couldn’t make it out of a wild third inning in which he walked three and hit a batter.

The Orioles loaded the bases with nobody out in that third inning when White walked two and hit Cedric Mullins. Rutschman’s two-run double made it 3-2, and then Anthony Santander tied it with an RBI groundout.

Ryan Mountcastle brought in a run with a single, and White was removed after another walk. Gunnar Henderson followed with an RBI single to make it 5-3.

Kyle Bradish, who was coming off consecutive scoreless starts against Houston and Cleveland, lasted only three-plus innings before Orioles manager Brandon Hyde went to his bullpen.

Tate came on with men on first and third and nobody out in the fourth. He escaped that jam but gave up an RBI double to Matt Chapman in the fifth. Then Pérez came in and went 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Baltimore added a big run in the sixth when Jorge Mateo tripled with two out and Mullins drove him in with a single.

Bryan Baker allowed the first two Toronto hitters to reach base in the seventh, but with men on first and third, Teoscar Hernández bounced into a double play. A run scored on that play to make it 6-5, but it left the bases empty.

Then tempers flared when Baker appeared to make a “chirping” signal with his hand toward the Toronto dugout after striking out Chapman for the third out. Benches and bullpens emptied, and although order was quickly restored, Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider was ejected during the bottom of the inning and came out to give plate umpire Jeff Nelson an earful.

Trevor Richards allowed a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth to put the Orioles back up by two, and then Mountcastle singled home two more runs. Left fielder Lourdes Gurriel’s throw to the plate was in plenty of time to get Rutschman on that play, but the tag was a bit late and he was called safe on a review to make it 9-5.

Bichette had four hits, including a two-run homer in the third that made it 3-0. Chapman had an RBI single in the first.

The start of the game was delayed 17 minutes because of rain.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: Hyde said RHP Jordan Lyles was better but still feeling sick. Lyles was scratched from his start in the doubleheader Monday and is day to day. Baltimore does not have him listed among its probable starters through the weekend.

UP NEXT

This series wraps up Wednesday night with Toronto’s Alek Manoah (13-7) facing Baltimore’s Dean Kremer (6-4). These teams still have seven games remaining against each other, including that one.

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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister

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