Bautista strikes again (updated)

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

September 15, 2010, 3:17pm

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Jose Bautista just homered into the Orioles' bullpen with two outs in the first inning, giving the Blue Jays a quick lead. Bautista has tied the Blue Jays' single-season record of 47 homers, originally set by George Bell in 1987. And I still can't wrap my head around it. Jose Bautista? Really? If he still played for the Orioles, he'd be a nugget. Brad Bergesen got ahead of Bautista, 0-1, with a 92 mph fastball. He threw another 92 mph fastball and almost wiped out a few relievers. Vernon Wells reached on Ty Wigginton's error with two outs, and he tried to score on Lyle Overbay's double down the left field line. Wigginton took Felix Pie's throw and gunned down Wells at the plate to end the inning. Update: The Orioles tied the game in the bottom of the first, but it could have been a bigger inning. Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis singled, and they executed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position. Wigginton struck out, Roberts raced home on Luke Scott's grounder and Pie struck out. Tough to come away without the lead, but they'll settle for the tie.