“The runner has the right to establish his basepath, and so Clement had established his basepath to avoid the fielder from potential interference,” umpire Nic Lentz told a pool reporter.
The Orioles chipped away at the lead the Blue Jays built in the early innings, but an uncharacteristically poor performance from Bradish set the groundwork of Baltimore’s 6-4 loss at Rogers Centre.
The MRI on Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo’s abdomen was clean, manager Craig Albernaz said a day after the slugger departed Friday’s series-opening win due to discomfort on his right side.
The dismal performance Wednesday doesn’t derail the momentum built over the last two weeks — the Orioles (29-33) had won eight of their last 11 entering this game — but this did feature a return of some of the issues that plagued Baltimore the first month and a half of the season.
With two more hits during Baltimore’s 9-5 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, Samuel Basallo capped a month that showed how much of a threat he already is.
“I know where we stand as baseball players, and I know where the owners stand,” Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin said. “It’s going to be a long conversation, long negotiation process, for both sides to get closer to what they want.”
A week ago, at Tropicana Field, a late-game blowup meant the Orioles stumbled to a sweep and sat a season-low eight games below .500. A lot has changed.