Adley Rutschman homers twice, but Orioles bats otherwise quiet in loss to Blue Jays

Adley Rutschman homers twice, but Orioles bats otherwise quiet in loss to Blue Jays

Danielle Allentuck

Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman watches his home run during the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. (Nick Wass/AP)

Adley Rutschman is running out of firsts.

His first hit and first homer were taken care of in 2022 shortly after he debuted. Then came his first opening day start in 2023 — when he went 5-for-5 — first walk-off, and first playoff experience. Earlier this year, he checked off his first grand slam.

But the slugger had never hit two home runs in a single game before.

Rutschman’s two home runs were the only bit of offense the Orioles produced in their 3-2 extra-innings loss to the Blue Jays in their first meeting of the season. Baltimore dropped back-to-back games for just the third time this season.

The first Rutschman home run came off José Berríos in the fourth, traveling 425 feet to right-center. The other came in his next at-bat against Berrios in the sixth, this one going to the flag court. They were his seventh and eighth home runs of the season, bringing Rutschman to second on the team behind only Gunnar Henderson, who has 12.

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“I’d rather just win,” Rutschman said. “I think everyone is just focused on team stuff. Obviously, individual stuff is great, but I think everyone here is just focused on the next day.”

In addition to his work at the plate, Rutschman also was behind it for Corbin Burnes’ six-inning, one-run outing. Burnes only struck out two, his fewest since the Orioles acquired him in February, but his strikeouts were effective. His curveball with two outs sent Davis Schneider spinning in a circle to end the third, and his slider got Alejandro Kirk swinging to close out the fourth.

Burnes’ one run was allowed in the sixth. He walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr., then allowed a single by Bo Bichette. Daniel Vogelbach hit a RBI single to drive in the run. The inning, and Burnes’ day at just 85 pitches, was quickly ended by a double play.

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Burnes said he started to feel fatigued after the fourth inning, and that he was pleased to get through six given how he was grinding.

“It felt like 85 pretty stressful pitches tonight,” Burnes said. “Every inning we’re kind of grinding through it. They were tough outs from the very first out of the game. Would I have liked to go further? Yeah. But I was at the point where I was fatigued.”

Manager Brandon Hyde brought in Craig Kimbrel next, who pitched a clean seventh. Kimbrel has not given up a run in his three appearances since being removed from his closer spot on Friday, pitching now twice in the seventh and once in the 11th.

“Three in a row of him really looking really sharp,” Hyde said. “That’s a great sign.”

Yennier Cano had the eighth, surrendering a home run to Daulton Varsho to tie the game, then walking two before he was replaced by Danny Coulombe. Coulombe got Daniel Vogelbach to ground into double play, thanks to Jorge Mateo’s handy glove work at second. Coulombe has inherited 10 runners this season and allowed none to score.

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Jacob Webb took the ninth, and then the start of the 10th as the game went to extras. He went 1-2-3 in the ninth but was not as sharp in the next frame. Webb gave up a single to Ernie Clement, which advanced Cavan Biggio, the ghost runner, to third. Webb was then replaced by Keegan Akin, but Biggio was able to score as Varsho grounded out.

The Orioles offense had no answer against Jordan Romano in the bottom of the 10th.

“The bottom line is we just didn’t score enough runs tonight,” Hyde said. “Just not enough offense tonight.”

Danielle Allentuck

danielle.allentuck@thebaltimorebanner.com

Danielle Allentuck

Danielle Allentuck covers the Orioles for The Baltimore Banner. She previously reported on the Rockies for the Denver Gazette and general sports assignments for The New York Times as part of its fellowship program. A Maryland native, Danielle grew up in Montgomery County and graduated from Ithaca College.

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