TORONTO — Rogers Centre isn’t home for Ryan Mountcastle, but he certainly knows how to make himself comfortable at the Blue Jays’ ballpark. The first baseman launched two home runs and drove in five runs Tuesday night to continue his torrid production north of the border and lead the Orioles to a 10-1 win.
“He’s been taking really good at-bats all year,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I’m so impressed with Mounty and how far he’s come and how much he’s developed and the strike zone awareness is so much better now and it’s a dangerous, dangerous hitter. The guy can really, really hit. He’s got great feel for where the barrel is and he’s got unbelievable power, so he showed that tonight.”
Connor Norby, playing in his second career MLB game, smashed a two-run homer for his first career hit and Corbin Burnes pitched seven innings of one-run ball for perhaps the Orioles’ most complete win of the season.
Baltimore (39-20) clinched at least a series split with the victory, extending its streak of consecutive series against American League East opponents without a loss to 20.
Even after going 0-for-5 Monday, Mountcastle carries a lifetime .319/.385/.659 slash line at Rogers Centre, including another two-homer game June 15, 2022. His eight home runs at Toronto’s stadium since 2021 are the second most by a visiting player behind only New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who has 11. The only ballpark to see more Mountcastle home runs since his MLB debut is Camden Yards (51).
“They’re a good team and yeah, just grateful that I got a couple good hits today and in the past,” Mountcastle said. “So, just going to try to keep it going.”
Tuesday marked the Orioles’ second consecutive day with a hitter enjoying a multi-homer game after Austin Hays went yard twice in the series opener Monday. Mountcastle is on a tear of his own, hitting two home runs against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday and reaching base at least once in 12 of his past 13 games.
Burnes was equally impressive on the mound, allowing just four hits with five strikeouts and one walk. The right-hander allowed four batters to reach base in the first three innings and didn’t allow another until two outs in the seventh, when George Springer hit a solo home run for the lone blemish against Burnes. The former Milwaukee Brewers star has delivered a quality start — an outing of at least six innings with three earned runs or fewer — in eight straight outings. It’s the longest such streak by an Orioles pitcher since Dylan Bundy completed eight in a row in 2017.
“I always think that there’s ways to improve, whether it’s location, whether it’s sequencing, that’s the kind of stuff we’re digging into and we did some stuff tonight that I think I opened some doors for the rest of the year,” Burnes said. “I always think there’s things to work on and same goes for what we’ve done the last stretch where we’ve been throwing the ball well. I think there’s still a lot of room to improve on.”
Burnes’ early-season run support problems have disappeared with the Orioles scoring six or more in each of his past four starts. In addition to Mountcastle and Norby, Adley Rutschman chipped in with a pair of RBI singles and Anthony Santander extended his RBI streak to four games on a one-run double in the seventh. The Orioles’ 10-run output marked the sixth time in 59 games they’ve scored in double digits; only the Kansas City Royals (seven) have more such games among AL teams.
The new name helping hit that total was Norby, who batted eighth in the lineup after going 0-for-3 in his MLB debut Monday. Norby went hitless in his first three at-bats Tuesday but put all three balls in the air before stepping to the plate in the eighth inning with Colton Cowser on first base. He took a hanging slider from Blue Jays right-hander Nate Pearson and deposited it into the home team’s bullpen in left field.
“I felt better as the game went on yesterday,” Norby said. “But I kind of had a feeling today during [batting practice] like I felt more normal. You still get butterflies. You get amped up before games. Obviously, I was still amped up but I thought I was putting up better at-bats. I was taking some pitches. I was swinging. That’s my thing. If I’m swinging and I’m in swing mode, I’m usually setting myself up pretty well.”
Jacob Webb and Nick Vespi each pitched scoreless innings in relief of Burnes to close out the victory. The Orioles have won 10 of their past 12 games and will look to win the series Wednesday night when Albert Suárez gets the start against the Blue Jays’ José Berríos.
Orioles at Blue Jays
Wednesday, 7:07 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
