BALTIMORE — Bo Bichette hit a career-high three homers in Game 2 of a doubleheader, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Monday night to complete the sweep and extend their lead in the final game. American League Wild Card.
Bichette hit a three-run homer off Nick Vespi in the third inning and then added solo shots in the sixth and seventh off Bruce Zimmermann. The shortstop finished the doubleheader with six hits and seven RBIs and is batting .400 in his last 15 games.
Toronto won the first game 7-3 thanks to Kevin Gausman’s triumphant return to Camden Yards and Teoscar Hernández’s home run.
Gausman (11-9) allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 2-3 innings in his first start in Baltimore since leaving the Orioles in a 2018 trade. The right-hander won consecutive games for the first time since May.
In the second game, Cavan Biggio also homered for Toronto, which posted its fifth victory and leads Baltimore by 4.5 games in the fight for the third wild card in the American League. The Blue Jays and Orioles have met 10 times in the last 31 days of the regular season.
Anthony Santander homered from both sides of the plate in Game 1 and Adley Rutschman and Rougned Odor homered in Game 2 for Baltimore, which has lost three in a row following a four-game winning streak.
Hernandez reached 20 homers on the season with his solo shot in the eighth inning that put Toronto ahead 4-2. After Santander homered in the bottom of the inning, the Blue Jays wrapped up the game with three runs in the ninth.
Mike Baumann (1-3) allowed three runs in five innings in his first major league start to carry the setback in Game 1. In the followingnoon game the loss went to Keegan Akin (3-2) by giving up two runs in 2 1/3 innings.
For the Blue Jays, the Dominicans Hernández 4-1 with one produced and one scored; Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 4-2 with an RBI; Santiago Espinal 3-0 with a run scored. Mexican Alejandro Kirk 4-0 with an RBI. Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 4-3 with a run scored.
For the Orioles, the Venezuelan Santander 4-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored; Jesus Aguilar 4-1. The Mexican Ramón Urías 3-0, as well as the Dominican Jorge Mateo.
For the Blue Jays, the Dominicans Teoscar Hernández 4-2; Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 5-0; Raimel Tapia 4-1 with a run scored.
For the Orioles, the Mexican Ramón Urías 4-2. The Venezuelans Rougned Odor 3-1 with one produced and two scored; Robinson Chirinos 4-1; Anthony Santander 5-0.
