Orioles finish 2021 season with 12-4 loss to Blue Jays (updated)

Pat Valaika grounded into a force against Adam Cimber this afternoon and the Orioles' 2021 season was a wrap. The fifth in a row below .500. A final record of 52-110, with two fewer wins than the last full season in 2019. With 56 road losses that are third-most in team history. And with a minus-297 run differential.

The Blue Jays did their part to stay alive in the wild card race by winning 12-4 at Rogers Centre, a game that included George Springer's leadoff home run against Orioles rookie Bruce Zimmermann, making his 14th major league start, in a three-run first inning and Springer's grand slam off Eric Hanhold in the third.

Singles by Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernández gave Toronto a 2-0 lead in the first, the only out recorded when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. took a called third strike. Shortstop Richie Martin made a leaping catch to rob Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but Santiago Espinal lined a single into left field and Zimmermann's day was over.

Guerrero hit a two-run homer off Marcos Diplán in the second inning, Tyler Nevin launched his first in the majors leading off top of the third, the ball soaring 442 feet to left field and almost reaching the upper deck, and Springer barreled a 95 mph heater in the bottom half after a single, walk and hit batter put Hanhold in a bind.

Springer almost single-handedly put the Jays in the playoffs. He just couldn't control the outcomes of other games.

The Yankees had a 1-0 walk-off win over the Rays that keeps them playing in October. The Red Sox beat the Nationals 7-5. The Jays are staying home.

Arizona's win hands the first pick in next year's draft to the Orioles, as long as the rules stay the same under the next collective bargaining agreement.

Manager Brandon Hyde will return to his Florida home and enjoy the simpler tasks of taking his kids to school and coaching basketball. Relaxation and quality time with a family that is more distanced through COVID-19.

Pitchers and catchers report to camp in Sarasota, Fla. on Feb. 15. The rebuild will churn into a fourth season and the third full.

Hyde didn't walk into it blindly, but you have to live it to fully understand.

"I knew it was going to be hard, but until you're sitting in the chair, you don't know how hard it's going to be, too," Hyde said earlier today.

"I've been through rough years - '12, '13, '14 were rough in Chicago. A little bit different circumstance and a different division. But I think that rebuilding and building something from the ground up is extremely challenging and I'm really encouraged by the strides that we have made, even though our record doesn't show it. The strides that we've made with some of these guys that could be core pieces and will be core pieces going forward. Now, we just have to surround them with more. And these four teams in this division aren't going anywhere. They're extremely talented, three of them have huge payrolls, and we just need to continue to get better, and it's not a light switch, throw a ton of money in one year situation.

"It's a total process, and I know that's a buzz word, but that really is what it is. It's a process that takes a little while, and it probably takes longer in this division because of who you're facing 80 games of your 162. I'm encouraged by some of the players we have and now we've just got to continue to add."

A timeline hasn't suddenly become visible. However, gains on the field and in the standings are more likely to surface as soon as the pitching is upgraded.

"I think for us to compete in this division, we're going to have to improve on the mound, period," Hyde said. "The Rays did that for a lot of years. I talked to Joe (Maddon) about it. They stayed competitive by having really, really good starting pitching, mixing in bullpen, to be able to shut down these offenses that you face. And that's our next step is to get a lot better on the mound so you can stay in games.

"Your hitting is going to come and go, your pitching and defense can be there. And we've just had a tough time pitching the last three years, trying to stay in games. That's the next step, how quickly our pitching can get to the level to win in this league and this division."

Springer hit a 2-1 changeup from Zimmermann 431 feet to give Toronto a quick 1-0 lead, raising his right arm in celebration as he approached second base. The Jays weren't uptight entering a game with huge implications.

They had important business. They got it done.

Diplán struck out Danny Jansen after replacing Zimmermann, who threw 28 pitches against seven batters, but the Blue Jays had their second three-run first inning in two days.

"I'm trying win the game and Zimm was getting hit around there in the first inning," Hyde said. "With everybody available, we tried to piece it together out of the bullpen. I didn't want to pull him early, but three runs given up, traffic on the bases, I was trying to keep it right there."

"Obviously, you want it to go better," Zimmermann said. "You want to play until the last out of the season. I would have liked to put a little better of a foot forward with that one, but at the same time we knew it was going to be a tall order. This team is playing for its life and they're obviously one of the most potent offenses in the AL East. I would have liked to go deeper in the game. I knew I already had a pitch limit coming off the ankle and everything. They just put a lot of good swings on good balls right out of the gate. They were on me right at the beginning."

Guerrero's 48th home run of the season, a record for a player 22 or younger, came after Springer walked in the second.

Pedro Severino's 100.8 mph line drive in the fourth nailed Hyun Jin Ryu inside the right thigh after Trey Mancini singled. Ryu stayed in the game, an entire ballpark exhaling at once, and he escaped the jam.

Hernández had a two-run single off Joey Krehbiel in the fourth for an 11-1 lead, as Hyde transitioned into a bullpen game, and Marcus Semien hit his 45th home run in the fifth.

"I'm hoping that our guys got something out of seeing what playoff teams look like and playing down the stretch and trying to get there," said Hyde, whose club posted the worst ERA in franchise history at 5.84. "We didn't pitch well at all this series. We had a really tough time with their lineup, really all year long. It's a tough lineup for us to pitch against. But I hope our guys got something out of playing in this environment and playing games that mattered."

"It's tough," Mancini said. "You want to win every game you can, but those guys came out to play all series. It's one of the best offenses I've ever seen personally. It's a really, really good lineup and they showed it this weekend."

The Orioles scored a run in the top of the fifth - Martin and Cedric Mullins had singles - and they loaded the bases with two outs, but Ryu retired Severino on his 77th pitch.

The Jays finally slowed down, with Dillon Tate retiring the side in order in the sixth and seventh.

Austin Hays was hit twice by pitches and took a hard spill chasing a ball in the right field corner. He raced to third base in the seventh inning on Mancini's second hit and scored on Severino's sacrifice fly, and his two-out RBI single in the eighth scored Mullins.

"We just got beat up, so I'm trying to stay positive," Hyde said. "I'm going to try to take the positives out of 2021."

"As a team, obviously our record isn't where it needs to be," Mancini said. "We've got a long way to go, but a lot of early good things happened this year and a lot of guys made names for themselves, and that's my biggest takeaway from the season. We've got kind of a core group forming in the lineup, I feel like, and that's really big, having a little bit of continuity there. We all, especially as the season went on, really gelled together and it was just a fun group to be around. I'm looking forward to being back with all these guys next year."

Note: Triple-A Norfolk wrapped up its season by scoring twice in the eighth inning on Kyle Stowers' RBI single and Rylan Bannon's sacrifice fly and defeating Durham 3-2.

Brett Cumberland hit his 10th home run. Ryan Hartman allowed one unearned run (two total) and three hits in 5 2/3 innings. Paul Fry retired the only batter he faced.

Adley Rutschman, playing first base, went 1-for-3 with a walk and run scored and finished the Triple-A portion of his season batting .312 with a .896 OPS. Combined with his work at Double-A Bowie, he posted a .285 average and .899 OPS with 25 doubles, two triples, 23 home runs, 75 RBIs and 79 walks in 543 plate appearances.