O's game blog: Kyle Bradish to mound in Game 2 at Toronto

TORONTO - After Adley Rutschman's two-run homer to left last night - his first major league homer off lefty pitching - the O's briefly had a 2-1 lead. But George Springer's three-run homer in the fifth put the Blue Jays ahead 4-2 and Matt Chapman's two-run homer an inning later extended that lead.

Toronto won the series opener 6-3 over Baltimore as the O's lost to the Blue Jays for the fifth time in the last six meetings, even though the season series is even at 7-7. Toronto has hit nine homers in those six games, scoring 37 runs.

So the Orioles (75-68) begin play today 4 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay for the third American League wild card, while also trailing Seattle by five games for the second wild card and Toronto by six for the first.

Last night, the O's were held to five hits or less for the fourth time in seven games, and three runs or less for the 11th time in 19 contests.

Toronto (82-63) won three of five games this week against Tampa Bay and then took Friday's series opener, its league-leading 39th comeback win. The Blue Jays have now won 10 of their last 13 and 14 of 18 games within the AL East. They are 34-27 on the season in the division. Overall, Toronto has won 14 of 18 and 21 of its last 30 games.

Rutschman's blast put the O’s ahead 2-1 in the fourth inning. It was his 11th homer of the year, his fourth go-ahead shot and his fourth against Toronto pitching. He ranks sixth among AL rookies in homers and eighth with 34 RBIs.

Baltimore center fielder Cedric Mullins registered his third triple of the season in the fourth and came around to score on the Rutschman homer. He is now 8-for-19 (.421) with two extra-base hits and five runs scored over his last six games.

Rookie Gunnar Henderson singled in the seventh and hit a solo homer to left with two outs in the ninth. Henderson is 6-for-13 his past three games. Over his last six, he is 9-for-21 with three doubles, a triple, a homer and eight RBIs. 

On the mound today, O's right-hander Kyle Bradish (3-6, 5.01 ERA) will make his 20th start. He is coming off a seven-inning outing Sunday against Boston where he allowed just two hits and one run. His ERA is 1.44 his past four starts with a .148 batting average against and .449 OPS allowed in that span.

In four starts this year against Toronto, he is 0-1 with a 7.27 ERA, yielding 14 earned runs over 17 1/3 innings with a WHIP of 2.019.

Righty José Berríos (10-5, 5.07 ERA) will make his 29th start. Toronto has a remarkable 21-7 record in his outings, winning five in a row. His ERA is 2.93 in those five games. In 14 home starts, he is 6-1 with a 4.05 ERA.

He has made two starts this year versus the Orioles, going 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA over 13 innings.