The visiting Baltimore Orioles have a chance to draw even with the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon in the crowded race for the final wild-card spot in the American League.
The Orioles (72-76) recorded a 7-4 victory over the Blue Jays (73-75) in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night to pull to 4-4 in the season series.
The teams will play again in Toronto on Saturday afternoon.
“Everything is high stakes,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s not going to be easy, but I think how you handle it is you continue to find ways to put your best foot forward and put guys in position to succeed. That’s it, really.”
In the wild-card race, the Blue Jays fell two games behind the Cleveland Guardians, who posted a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday.
“September baseball, it’s the best,” said Heston Kjerstad, who contributed an RBI single in Baltimore’s five-run second inning on Friday. “We’re playing for something that’s really important. We all want to clinch a playoff spot. We’re all playing hard. We’re all doing everything we can to make that happen.”
Baltimore’s Dylan Beavers led off Friday’s game with a home run against Max Scherzer and added a two-run single in the second. Coby Mayo added a seventh-inning homer.
Orioles starter Chris Bassitt, who helped the Blue Jays reach the World Series last season, allowed two runs in five-plus innings on Friday.
“Is every game a must-win? No,” Bassitt said. “But you kind of have to treat every game right now like a must-win. We don’t have a lot of games left. We have a little bit more to go from a wild-card standpoint. So yeah, just playing clean, but playing with the sense of urgency that we need to, being smart, yeah, every game is really important.”
Right-hander Kyle Bradish (7-13, 3.91 ERA) will start for the Orioles on Saturday. He is 2-4 with a 4.94 ERA in 10 career appearances (all starts) vs. the Blue Jays and is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two starts against them this season.
The Blue Jays will turn to right-hander Spencer Miles (6-2, 2.77) to start Saturday’s game. He struck out three batters and did not allow a hit over two scoreless innings on Tuesday in his team’s 4-2 victory over the A’s.
Miles is 1-1 with a 9.82 ERA in two appearances (one start) vs. the Orioles this season, his first in the majors.
The Blue Jays are expected to use right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (7-9, 5.12 ERA) after Miles. Arrighetti is 1-1 with a 1.62 ERA in three career starts against the Orioles.
Rookie Brett Bateman provided some of the few Blue Jays highlights in the series opener. He had three hits, including his first major league home run, a two-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning.
Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued his struggles, going 1-for-4 with an infield hit and a walk. He helped squelch a potential rally in the first inning when catcher Samuel Basallo picked him off first base. Alejandro Kirk followed with a walk that would have loaded the bases.
“(First-base coach) Mark Budzinski was on it, kind of yelling. He didn’t hear him,” Schneider said of Guerrero. “He just got out too far. Baserunning plays like that can shift momentum a little bit. It could have been a little bit different after Kirk walks. He got out too far, and they made a play.”
The Blue Jays made a change in their outfield on Friday.
Jesus Sanchez, who had been a defensive liability, was designated for assignment, while Rudy Martin Jr. was promoted from Triple-A Buffalo and was used as a pinch runner in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
