The Toronto Blue Jays were looking finish off a four-game sweep of the Baltimore
Orioles on Monday at Sahlen Field in Downtown Buffalo. They also had the opportunity to go seven-for-seven in their meetings this year.
The Jays did not get to "lucky seven" as they fell in the series finale, 4-3, in 11 innings.
It took a pair of clutch doubles for Baltimore in the top of the 11th inning to ultimately give them the much-needed victory. Jose Iglesias doubled to start the inning, scoring Anthony Santander and then Bryan Holaday doubled to score Iglesias, which ultimately was the winning run.
The day started well for the Orioles as they wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard.
In the top of the first, Santander doubled to right field and the next batter, Iglesias,
singled him home to give Baltimore an early 1-0 advantage.
In the fifth, after a Danny Jansen walk, Joe Panik doubled down the right field line to put two runners in scoring position. That double from Panik ended the day for Baltimore starting pitcher Keegan Akin, who was very strong up to that point, surrendering only three hits to the Blue Jays.
Then, with two outs, Cavan Biggio came to the plate and grounded to second base, but Orioles second baseman Hanser Alberto threw the ball too high to first base and it led to two runs coming in and Toronto grabbed its first lead of the game at 2-1.
In the sixth, Baltimore tied the game quickly as Alberto led off with a single and then Santander hit his second double of the game to get Alberto home to make it a 2-2 game.
The game could've possibly ended in the 10th inning, but a great play was made
defensively by Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who made a beautiful throw to home plate to get the third out as Baltimore's Mason Williams tried to score tagging up on a fly ball.
Toronto did have a chance to tie the game in the bottom half of the 11th inning. With two outs, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled to score Randal Grichuk to make it a one-run game.
Then pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez singled but Gurriel Jr. was waived home and was
thrown out to end the game.
Chase Anderson started on the mound for the Blue Jays. He pitched five innings, struck out eight Orioles batters, gave up three hits and one-earned run.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0-5 and his career-best hitting streak ended at 12 games.
With the loss, the Blue Jays are now 18-15 on the season.
The Jays will now hit the road and open up September with a two-game series in Miami against the Marlins. The team's next homestand in Buffalo starts on Sept. 7, when the New York Yankees come to town for a three-game series.
Trade Deadline information:
The Major League Baseball trade deadline was Monday afternoon and the Blue Jays did make some moves.
Just before first pitch of the game, Toronto acquired pitcher Robbie Ray and cash considerations from the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Travis Bergen. Ray has an 11.14 K per-nine innings pitched in his career, the highest rate in MLB history
(min. 100 starts). However, Ray has also walked 4.2 batters per-nine innings pitched, the second worst in the MLB since 2010.
The Blue Jays also made a move for infield depth, acquiring infielder Jonathan Villar from the Marlins for a player to be named later. Villar brings speed to the Blue Jays lineup, as he currently leads the MLB in stolen bases with nine.
For his career, he averages 42 stolen bases per-162 games. Villar had the
first-ever MLB at-bat at Sahlen Field as a member of the Marlins back on Aug.
11.
The third move of the day was another move for pitcher. Toronto acquired Ross Stripling from the Los Angles Dodgers for two players to be named
later.
NOTES:
- Teoscar Hernandez extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games.
- Biggio found himself on base after the throwing error in the fifth inning. He
extended his on-base streak to 23 games, which is the longest active streak in the
Majors.
