O's game blog: O's ace Burnes faces Blue Jays in Game 2

TORONTO – In going 6-1 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre last year, the Orioles batted .293 as a team and had an OPS of .808 against the Blue Jays.

But over those seven games, they hit just eight homers. Last night, in beating Toronto again at Rogers Centre by a 7-2 score, they mashed four home runs.

That tied an O’s season high and they did it for the second time in three games after also hitting four on April 11 at Boston.

The Orioles are now 12-4 this year versus American League East teams, going 5-1 versus the Red Sox, 3-1 against the Yankees, 2-1 versus the Blue Jays and 2-1 against the Rays.

The Orioles have gone 4-0-1 in five AL East series and they are 5-1 in the series-opening games against the division after Monday’s win.

By the way, the Orioles went 0-10 at Rogers Centre in 2018 and 9-18 from 2020-22. But they are 7-1 since the start of last season. 

The Yankees lead the majors with 90 homers and the Orioles are second with 88. No other club has hit more than 77. But because they have played three fewer games, the O’s lead the majors in homers per game at 1.52 compared to 1.48 for the Yanks.

Left fielder Austin Hays, who had no homers this year in 86 plate appearances, hit two last night. It was his first two-homer game since Sept. 18 at Houston and the sixth of his career.

In 14 games since he returned from the injured list, Hays is batting .316 (12-for-38) with an OPS of .904. He has six extra-base hits in this span with four doubles and two homers. In his 60 career games against the Blue Jays, he is batting .288 (62-for-215) with 15 doubles, a triple, 11 home runs, 33 RBIs and a .861 OPS.

Since they were swept three in a row at St. Louis and scored just eight runs, the Orioles are 9-2 and have scored 5.9 runs per game. They have hit 19 homers in this stretch with a team OPS of .833.

In winning last night, the Orioles beat a hot Blue Jays team. Heading into this series, the Jays had won five of their past six and were 9-5 their last 14 games.

O’s right-hander Corbin Burnes (5-2, 2.35 ERA) gets the start tonight, his 13^th as he shoots for his eighth straight quality start.

Over his last seven games since April 26, he is 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA and a .565 OPS against. The Orioles are 8-4 when Burnes gets the start, winning in his last three.

Burnes ranks fifth in the AL in ERA and is tied for fourth with nine quality starts, one off the league lead. He is 10^th in innings and tied for 11^th in strikeouts.

But when he faced Toronto and did not get a decision on May 13, he fanned just two Blue Jays batters. Burnes would later say the Jays worked hard to not strike out against him and put several balls in play on two-strike counts. He allowed one run in six innings that day on 85 pitches.

This season in four AL East starts, he is 2-1 with a 1.38 ERA. In his nine career starts versus the division, he is 4-1 with a 1.31 ERA and .429 OPS.

Burnes went seven innings Wednesday at home against Boston, allowing one unearned run. He has allowed zero earned runs in two of his past three starts, going 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in those three games.

Right-hander Trevor Richards (1-0, 3.18 ERA) will start for the Blue Jays and is expected to be an opener. He has made 25 appearances this year, all out of the bullpen. Over 28 1/3 innings, he has allowed just 12 hits with an 0.88 WHIP. He has been scored on twice in recent games, giving up four runs over 7 1/3 in his past five outings.