Orioles’ offense erupts in blowout victory against Blue Jays

TORONTO — Gunnar Henderson ripped the helmet off his head even as the dust plume rose around him. He nearly removed Pete Alonso’s hand from his arm with a vigorous high-five, and as Henderson frothed and fumed — happily, one might add, although it was hard to tell — Jackson Holliday shrank back slightly, protecting himself from this wild man who had just torn around the bases.

Henderson practically set the dirt ablaze behind him as he hurtled from first base, around second and third, and then dove across home plate just ahead of the throw. That surge of energy, coming on the back end of Adley Rutschman’s two-run double, was just the start of Baltimore’s five-run sixth inning.

After Rutschman’s double — and Henderson’s sprint — Jeremiah Jackson added an RBI single and Coby Mayo lifted a two-run home run. It was the sort of fast-strike offense the Orioles have been hoping to boast this season, and in recent games, this has been a more frequent sight.

That outpouring of runs continued what has been a strong stretch for Baltimore, and it prodded the Orioles to a series-opening 13-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Rutschman accounted for five of Baltimore’s runs — one shy of his career-high RBI tally.

Baltimore has won 10 of its last 14 games. The Orioles are 31-33, back within two games of .500 for the first time since May 1, when they were 15-17.

Slowly but surely, the Orioles are showing signs they can turn this season around. Of course, there was nothing slow about Henderson, or how quickly Baltimore scored five runs against right-hander Trey Yesavage, who had relatively cruised since Rutschman’s first-inning solo homer.

The long ball from Rutschman was impressive enough, considering who it came against. In 10 previous regular-season starts, the 22-year-old Yesavage hadn’t allowed a homer. Then Rutschman sent one just over the right-center wall. There was no just to Mayo’s blast, which landed in the second deck of left field.

Before the game, manager Craig Albernaz said a quality at-bat from Mayo means the 24-year-old “looks like a savage, to be honest with you. … When Coby’s right, he’s getting his A swing off every time.”

The sixth-inning shot was, undoubtedly, Mayo’s A swing. He throttled Yesavage’s hanging slider for his eighth homer this season. With more frequent playing time, Mayo has found himself increasingly hot. In 14 games from May 13 through Thursday, Mayo was hitting .292 with a .900 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

The entire offense is producing at a strong clip lately. The Orioles have managed seven or more hits in 11 straight games, which is the longest active streak in the majors. It’s also Baltimore’s first 11-game streak with seven since it hit that number in 14 straight games in 2023.

Rutschman accounted for four of the 13 hits Friday, and he finished a triple shy of the cycle. He added his second two-run double in the eighth inning, which helped turn this game into a blowout.

With four more runs in the top of the ninth, Baltimore forced Toronto into using catcher Tyler Heineman as a pitcher.

The eruption of offense in the sixth came right after the Blue Jays had taken a lead against right-hander Brandon Young. There weren’t many misses from Young on Friday, but Brandon Valenzuela didn’t miss a hanging slider in the fifth. He blasted it for a two-run homer.

But, after the Orioles answered, Young departed with another quality start. He finished with three runs against him in 6 1/3 innings, which slightly increases his season ERA to 3.47. He’s playing a major part in an improved rotation performance over the last two weeks.

The only bit of worrisome news came when designated hitter Samuel Basallo departed the game with right abdominal discomfort.

Beyond that, this was a big night in Toronto for the Orioles’ offense, which seemed to just keep chugging around the bases at Henderson’s breakneck pace while Rutschman drove in teammates.