TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Santander hit two home runs and made a spectacular catch, while Jackson Holliday added a two-run home run of his own to help the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Wednesday night.
Switch hitting Santander hit a two-run shot in the first inning against Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francisthen he added a solo home run against left-hander Ryan Yarbrough from the other side of the plate in the eighth inning. The home runs were his 33rd and 34th, a career high.
“Tonight he carried us on offense and caught the ball of the game,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.
Santander leads the majors with 25 home runs since the beginning of June. It was his third multi-home run game this season and the 16th of his career.
Wednesday night’s performance marks the seventh time Santander has hit a home run from both sides of the plate in a game. Eddie Murray holds the Orioles’ franchise record with eight.
Holliday hit a home run for the third straight game for the Orioles, who lead the majors with 178 home runs. At 20 years, 274 days old, Holliday is the youngest player in American League history to hit a home run in three consecutive games.
Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run double to lift the Orioles back to their feet after losing the series opener on Tuesday.
In his second start for Baltimore, left-hander Trevor Rogers allowed three runs, two earned runs and seven hits in five innings. He managed two strikeouts and two walks.
“I thought it was better this time,” Hyde said of Rogers.
Burch Smith (3-0), Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez and Seranthony Domínguez each played a scoreless inning to secure the win for Baltimore.
Toronto’s Spencer Horwitz hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning and the Blue Jays scored two more runs in the second. Brian Serven tied the game with an RBI single and later scored on a throwing error by third baseman Coby Mayo.
Holliday restored Baltimore’s lead with a 424-foot home run against right-hander Ryan Burr (0-1) in the seventh inning.
“What a huge success for us,” said Hyde.
Holliday has at least one RBI in five consecutive games.
“That was obviously a pretty important moment in the game to change the score,” Holliday said. “I think we needed a little momentum.”
In the second half of the seventh inning, Santander jumped into the right field wall to take Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out of the game. for the last out of the inning, leaving the tying point at second base.
“He just played incredible baseball on both sides,” Hyde said.
Home plate umpire Larry Vanover ejected Hyde in the fifth inning for arguing over balls and strikes. Hyde was ejected after Mayo was taken out of the game for striking. Colton Cowser retired with a strikeout while attempting to end the inning.
“I’ve known Larry for a long time,” Hyde said. “I didn’t mean to disrespect him, but I had to make it clear to him that I didn’t think the strike zone was very fair.”
Francis set a career high with seven strikeouts in five innings. He allowed two runs and three hits.
“It’s a difficult lineup, but I thought he did a really, really good job,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.
Toronto president Mark Shapiro spoke to reporters before the game, his first public comments since spring training. The Blue Jays have made the playoffs the past two seasons but are in last place in the AL East at 52-62.
“This was by far the biggest deviation from our expectations and the biggest disappointment,” Shapiro said of his nine seasons with the Blue Jays. “We have to recover from this.”
ORIOLES ADD DAVIS
Baltimore signed INF JD Davis to a minor league contract and sent him to Triple-A Norfolk. Davis began the season with Oakland before being traded to the Yankees. New York released him last Friday.
TRAINING ROOM
Orioles: One day after being cut from a starting spot, RHP Grayson Rodriguez went on the 15-day ILretroactive to Sunday because of a mild strain in his back and shoulder. Hyde said he is “optimistic” that Rodriguez will return this season. … RHP Jacob Webb (right elbow) went on the 15-day IL retroactive to Sunday, and OF Heston Kjerstad (concussion) went on the 10-day IL retroactive to Thursday. … Baltimore recalled RHP Bryan Baker and LHP Keegan Akin from Triple-A.
NEXT
Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (9-8, 4.56 ERA) will face his former team for the seventh time on Thursday, pitching against Orioles RHP Dean Kremer (4-8, 4.39). Gausman has a 1-4 record with a 5.35 ERA against Baltimore, his first major league team.
___
APMLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
