Final
Bautista's 28th HR leads Blue Jays past Orioles
Jul 27, 2010 - 3:16 AMVideo
Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 28th home run, Aaron Hill and Adam Lind also connected and the Blue Jays beat Baltimore 9-5 on Monday night for their 10th straight win over the Orioles.
"It's nice to be able to beat somebody every time you play them," Bautista said.
The Blue Jays wore retro uniforms, played 1980's music and displayed old-style graphics on the scoreboard. Toronto's TV announcers wore vintage clothing and fans were encouraged to do the same. Several Blue Jays, including right-hander Jesse Litsch, wore rock-star style wigs.
For the struggling Orioles, it probably felt like several decades since they last beat the Blue Jays. Even Bautista acknowledged feeling sorry for baseball's worst team - just not when they're the opposition.
"When they're not playing against you, you feel bad," Bautista said. "But if you're playing them, you've obviously got to think about your team. We're trying to win every game, so I didn't feel bad for them today."
The 10-game winning streak is Toronto's longest against Baltimore since a 13-game run from April 11, 1999-May 10, 2000.
The Orioles have not beaten the Blue Jays since sweeping a three-game series in Baltimore on the final weekend of the 2009 season, winning 5-4 in 11 innings to end the year.
Hill hit a two-run homer in the fourth, and the Blue Jays smacked two more in the fifth. Bautista hit a three-run shot and Lind added a solo blast. Toronto leads baseball with 152 homers this season, including a league-high 37 in July. The Blue Jays also lead the majors with 82 homers in home games.
All three homers came off Brad Bergesen (3-9), who has lost seven straight decisions and has not won since May 12 against Seattle. The right-hander allowed eight runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings, raising his ERA to 6.95, walked one and struck out one.
"There's not really a whole lot to say," Bergesen said. "They got to me today."
Baltimore starters have pitched just 55 innings in 11 games since the All-Star break, while relievers have worked 47. The Orioles are 2-9 in that span.
"We just can't continue to do this or we're going to kill those guys down in the bullpen," manager Juan Samuel said.
Brandon Morrow (7-6) pitched six innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season. He allowed two runs and five hits, walked four and struck out six, improving to 6-1 in nine home starts.
Morrow had not pitched since July 17 at Baltimore because the Blue Jays are taking a cautious approach with the right-hander, who's in his first full season as a starter.
"I felt good," Morrow said. "Eight or nine days off helps anybody."
David Purcey retired Miguel Tejada with runners at first and third to end the eighth, then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first career save.
Matt Wieters hit two homers, the first multihomer game of his career, and Luke Scott added a two-run shot for the Orioles, who have lost three straight.
Hill got the Blue Jays started with an RBI single in the second, and Toronto added three more in the third on Lind's RBI double and Hill's homer to center.
Bautista and Lind made it 8-0 with their fifth-inning drives before the Orioles broke through.
Wieters, who came off the disabled list Sunday, hit a two-run blast into the second deck in right off Morrow in the sixth and a solo blast to left off Casey Janssen in the eighth. He has eight homers this season.
Samuel was especially pleased to see the switch-hitting Wieters homer to both fields.
"It's nice to see Matt show what he's capable of doing when he's right and when he's got balance at the plate," Samuel said.
Scott, selected AL Player of the Week after hitting four homers last week, hit a two-run shot to right off Janssen in the seventh, his 17th of the year and his fifth homer in 30 at-bats.
Toronto's Fred Lewis capped the scoring by driving in pinch-runner Mike McCoy with a single off Matt Albers in the eighth.
NOTES: Baltimore is 0-8 on Mondays. ... Samuel said 2B Brian Roberts would get Tuesday off. Roberts was activated from the 60-day DL last week after missing more than three months with a strained abdominal muscle. ... Orioles 1B Ty Wigginton had his suspension cut from three games to two after agreeing to drop an appeal, and began serving the penalty. Jake Fox started at 1B. ... Former Blue Jays stars Jesse Barfield and Tony Fernandez were honored on the field before the game, and Barfield threw out the first pitch.
- Blue Jays 9, Orioles 5 - FINAL
BALTIMORE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
B Roberts 2b 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 .185
M Tejada 3b 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 .269
N Markakis rf 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 .294
L Scott dh 4 2 1 2 1 0 2 .295
A Jones cf 5 0 1 0 0 3 1 .271
F Pie lf 4 0 0 0 0 3 3 .269
M Wie
Jul 26 9:49 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY FRED LEWIS SCORED MIKE MCCOY
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, F LEWIS ON FIRST, J MOLINA ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 5
TORONTO 9 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: Y ESCOBAR (.368, 1-FOR-4)
Orioles 5, Blue Jays 9 Bot 8, 0 OutsJul 26 9:39 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY MATT WIETERS (8) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
8TH OFF CASEY JANSSEN.
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 5, TORONTO 8
DUE UP FOR BALTIMORE: J FOX (.223, 1-FOR-3)
Orioles 5, Blue Jays 8 Top 8, 0 OutsJul 26 9:22 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY LUKE SCOTT (17) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 2
OUT IN THE 7TH OFF CASEY JANSSEN SCORED NICK MARKAKIS.
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 4, TORONTO 8
DUE UP FOR BALTIMORE: A JONES (.272, 1-FOR-3)
Orioles 4, Blue Jays 8 Top 7, 0 OutsJul 26 9:06 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY MATT WIETERS (7) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 2
OUT IN THE 6TH OFF BRANDON MORROW SCORED LUKE SCOTT.
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 2, TORONTO 8
DUE UP FOR BALTIMORE: J FOX (.217, 0-FOR-2)
Orioles 2, Blue Jays 8 Top 6, 0 OutsJul 26 8:43 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY ADAM LIND (14) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 5TH OFF BRAD BERGESEN.
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 0, TORONTO 8
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: A HILL (.203, 2-FOR-2, HR, 3 RBI)
Orioles 0, Blue Jays 8 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 26 8:28 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY JOSE BAUTISTA (28) TO LEFT CENTER WITH
0 OUT IN THE 5TH OFF BRAD BERGESEN SCORED YUNEL ESCOBAR
AND FRED LEWIS.
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 0, TORONTO 7
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: V WELLS (.272, 1-FOR-2)
Orioles 0, Blue Jays 7 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 26 8:24 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY AARON HILL (14) TO CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 4TH OFF BRAD BERGESEN SCORED ADAM LIND.
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 0, TORONTO 4
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: L OVERBAY (.250, 0-FOR-1)
Orioles 0, Blue Jays 4 Bot 4, 0 OutsJul 26 8:08 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ADAM LIND SCORED JOSE BAUTISTA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A LIND ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 0
TORONTO 2 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: A HILL (.201, 1-FOR-1, RBI)
Orioles 0, Blue Jays 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsJul 26 8:08 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY AARON HILL SCORED VERNON WELLS
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A HILL ON FIRST, A LIND ON SECOND, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: BALTIMORE 0
TORONTO 1 BOTTOM,2ND
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: L OVERBAY (.251, 11 HR, 36 RBI)
Orioles 0, Blue Jays 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsJul 26 7:34 PM
Related News
- Tuesday Bird Droppings: The slow march to Opening Day Dec 26
- Merry Christmas Dec 25
- Happy Birthday Rickey Henderson Dec 25
- Christmas Bird Droppings: Enjoy the holiday season, Birdland Dec 25
- Hall of Fame Poll: David Wright Dec 24
- Christmas Eve Bird Droppings Dec 24
- Hall of Fame Poll: Billy Wagner Dec 23
- Off Topic: What is the worst Christmas song? Dec 23
- Saturday Bird Droppings: Ryan Minor has passed away Dec 23
- Today in Blue Jays History: Brandon Morrow Trade Dec 22
- The 2023 ALDS, Game 1 (Camden Chat’s version) Dec 22
- Friday Bird Droppings: The Dodgers won the Yamamoto sweepstakes Dec 22