Orioles fight back from three-run deficit to defeat Blue Jays 9-6 (updated)

Manager Brandon Hyde has seen the many examples this season, when his club appeared on the verge of spiraling and instead dug in its heels and pushed upward. Being swept in yesterday’s doubleheader tested its resolve again, its sense of direction.

The Orioles regained their balance. When they absolutely, positively had to do it.

Down by three runs early, they fought back rather than folding and gave themselves a chance to split the series by scrambling the usual bullpen pattern and defeating the Blue Jays 9-6 at Camden Yards.

Bo Bichette hit his fourth home run in two nights and came within a triple of the cycle, but the Orioles scored five times in the bottom of the third inning and used four relievers to reach the finish line in front. Gasping for air while crossing it but strong enough to defend themselves.

"It's a big win just because of where we are in the standings and the team we're playing," Hyde said. "Real excited about how we came back tonight. Kind of pieced it together, bullpen-wise and a couple nice rallies."

Félix Bautista allowed a run with two outs in the ninth but recorded the six-out save, three runs from the Orioles in the eighth providing lots of wiggle room for the big man, and the teams turned up the heat a little more on their rivalry.

The benches and bullpens emptied after Bryan Baker struck out Matt Chapman to end the seventh. Baker motioned with his hand to the Jays dugout to keep chirping – they appeared more agitated with plate umpire Jeff Nelson - and players raced onto the field. No punches were thrown, but Jorge Mateo tried to hold back Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Teoscar Hernández by their waistbands, and the latter had his jersey pulled off.

Adley Rutschman got Baker back into the dugout. Bautista eventually got his 12^th save, the Omar whistle sounding before he worked.

"Just tensions got high and benches cleared, but it seemed like no one got hurt, so that's a good thing," Rutschman said.

"Just doing what I can. One of those unique situations that you're just trying to feel out during the time."

"Just a disagreement," Baker said. "Just something that got taken too far, and probably shouldn't have come to that. Just a disagreement with Teoscar, who I played with before. Just went a little bit too far.

"I think everybody knows at this point I'm pretty fired up, pretty intense out there, but it was nothing toward their team or anything. It was just kind of letting him know that I know he's talking. There's really no issue with the team or anything like that. I don't think there's any bad blood or anything like that. Just was letting him know that, really."

Hernández homered off Baker yesterday in Game 1 of the doubleheader and thought there was some carryover.

“I guess he was mad because yesterday I hit a homer," Hernández said. "Every time he pitches against us he just tries to make a show.

“When I hit the ground ball, he’s staring at me and saying ‘Yeah, yeah.’ And then he strikes out Chapman. As soon as he strikes out, he turns into our dugout and starts talking and pointing at me, and saying that I was talking too much. But I wasn’t talking. I wasn’t saying anything.”

Nelson ejected Toronto manager John Schneider in the bottom of the seventh during Ryan Mountcastle’s at-bat. Schneider bolted onto the field to protest.

Baker already had cooled down. And he didn't think anyone else in the visiting dugout was yelling to him while he pitched.

"I was part of that organization, I know some of those guys, I have no problems with them, didn't hear anything negative at all," he said. "Just a personal problem that I probably should have handled a different way, but it just kind of came out."

"I'm not worried about their dugout," Hyde said. "I didn't hear anything to Jeff. I didn't hear anything to Baker, either."

Dillon Tate entered in the fourth inning for the first time since July 2, 2021 and registered three outs to strand runners on the corners. Cionel Pérez stranded Chapman on second base in the fifth after Tate surrendered an RBI double that cut the lead to 5-4, and George Springer on first base in the sixth with another loud out.

Mateo tripled and scored with two outs in the sixth. Anthony Santander drew a bases-loaded walk against Trevor Richards with two outs in the eighth after Rutschman walked for the 50^th time this season, Mountcastle followed with a two-run single, and the Orioles improved to 72-64 and moved within 3 ½ games of the last wild card.

They’ve won seven of 12 against Toronto this season with seven remaining, an important notation with the tie-breaker.

Rutschman was ruled out at the plate on Mountcastle’s single, but the call was overturned. Mountcastle has 32 RBIs in 37 career games against Toronto.

"I didn't really know if he blocked the plate or not, but I was just trying to get in there safe, so I did the best I could," Rutschman said.

The Jays scored against Baker in the seventh after singles by Bichette and Alejandro Kirk put runners on the corners with no outs, but the Orioles gladly took the double play grounder from Hernández. Chapman struck out on a 99.2 mph fastball and tempers flared.

These teams have a history, with a similar scrum forming last year at Camden Yards after Alek Manoah drilled Maikel Franco, and with Hyde and Robbie Ray exchanging words in another game.

Baker didn't expect everyone to come onto the field again tonight, for the situation to escalate.

"Especially just knowing Teoscar, I didn't really want to provoke him to run and try to fight at all," Baker said. "It seemed like he kind of wanted to do that. But it was really just a respect thing and me just letting him know that I know that he's talking. That's really about it."

"I think Bake pitches with a lot of intensity," Hyde said. "He was pumped, a big strikeout, and sometimes he lets it out."

The Orioles forced Jays starter Mitch White out of tonight’s game in the third, which began with them trailing 3-0. White walked the last two batters in the order, hit Cedric Mullins after two failed bunt attempts, and surrendered a two-run double to Rutschman, an RBI grounder from Santander during a nine-pitch at-bat, and Mountcastle’s go-ahead, run-scoring single.

Ramón Urías walked, reliever Julian Merryweather entered the game, and Gunnar Henderson welcomed him with a run-scoring single. Ten batters came to the plate in the inning.

Mateo’s seventh triple of the season, a laser into left-center field at 107.9 mph, led to an insurance run in the sixth on Mullins’ two-out looping single into right field.

Mullins joined Mateo in the 30-stolen base club in the eighth, the first pair of Orioles to reach the mark since Corey Patterson and Brian Roberts in 2007.

Kyle Bradish lasted only three-plus innings in his second-shortest outing in the majors and was charged with three runs and six hits among his 66 pitches. He went 1 2/3 innings on May 27 in Boston.

Asked earlier in the day whether Bradish was ready to be the stopper, Hyde said, “I hope so.” The rookie looked like one in his last two starts.

Bradish’s scoreless streak ended at 16 innings when Kirk led off the second with a double and scored with one out on Chapman’s single into center field. Mullins’ throw to the plate arrived ahead of Kirk, but Rutschman couldn’t gather the ball and make the tag.

Bradish struck out three batters in the 20-pitch inning, including Whit Merrifield to strand two runners.

Springer led off the third with a double, moved to third base on Guerrero’s ground ball and came home on Bichette’s fly ball to right that initially was ruled a double. The ball hit the roof of the grounds crew shed, and the call was reversed after review.

Bichette had four home runs in his last six at-bats in the series. The Orioles had a serious problem.

A walk and single to open the fourth brought Hyde out of the dugout, the urgency transparent with Tate appearing this early. A medium-range fly ball, strikeout and ground ball kept the lead at 5-3.

"I thought we needed to win the game," Hyde said. "I was going to do anything I can to try to win the game."

Bichette and Chapman doubled in the fifth and Tate handed the ball to Hyde, who must figure out how he’s going to cover at least nine innings Wednesday with Dean Kremer opposing Manoah.

Pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal lined to Austin Hays, who made a nice running catch. Guerrero flied to deep center field to end the sixth, raising his bat in the air after making contact as if anticipating a home run.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made a diving catch in left-center field in the second inning to rob Hays and strand Henderson. Hays popped up in the third after seven Orioles reached base, and again leading off the sixth. He flied out leading off the eighth.

He’s still waiting to bust out.

The Orioles don’t seem as broken tonight.

"It's a lot of heart, a lot of guts," Baker said. "Obviously, it was a big game today and we're kind of playing like it's our last one. We want to go out there and win. Tensions flared. Obviously, everyone wants to win, it's a big game, but really proud of the way we showed up and grinded out a victory. It was pretty awesome."

“Every game’s a must-win at this point, no matter who we’re playing,” Bradish said.

"It speaks to the guys' character more than anything," Rutschman said. "They're resilient and guys, they don't let anything get us down too long and they maintain the same attitude. I think that shows."

Note: Grayson Rodriguez started for Double-A Bowie tonight on his injury rehab assignment and allowed one run and one hit in two innings, with two walks, four strikeouts and a wild pitch. He threw 40 pitches, and more in the bullpen, according to MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski.

Rodriguez told the media that he expects to start again for the Baysox on Sunday.