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.

“The way he runs the bases, it’s the beauty of Gunnar,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He can impact in the batter’s box and on the field, but also when he’s on the basepaths. He’s a demon on the bases too. So he’s a superstar, and that’s what superstars do.”

“The energy was felt in the dugout, that’s for sure,” Albernaz added.

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.

“Today was a great win,” Rutschman said. “Just continuing to give good ABs in the box and continuing to tack on runs. I think that was huge, just giving our pitchers the freedom to go out there and attack. So I was really happy with this overall performance today, and I thought we did a really good job all around.”

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, 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.

Mayo said, in a sense, the Orioles “were just able to ride him [Yesavage] out until he made a mistake.” When those mistakes came, they took advantage.

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.

“We’re not relying on the two-run homer or the big double — which I love, I think everyone loves — but the ability to do the little things is what’s been really impressive during this stretch," Albernaz said.

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. Rutschman became only the third Orioles catcher to reach base five times and record five RBIs, joining Gus Triandos in 1957 and Matt Wieters in 2012.

“He’s one of the best in the league, and when he’s going good, look out,” Mayo said. “So he’s a really good player, really good behind the plate, good teammate. Everyone loves him. I’m really happy for him, and I know he’ll keep it up.”

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.

Young used his new splitter grip throughout the outing, but what may be most noticeable is how his four-seam fastball is working. Entering Friday, opponents were hitting .125 against it, which is the second-lowest average on a qualified pitcher’s four-seamer, behind only Phillies hurler Zack Wheeler.

“I think just being really aggressive with it,” Young said. “Maybe last year I was pretty timid with it and trying to hit locations, and now this year it’s like, ‘Hey, hit it. I’m throwing it in the zone.’ I’d say the command wasn’t great with it tonight, but I’m being, like I said, aggressive and attacking with it and just making them make a pretty quick decision and mixing it up after that.”

The only bit of worrisome news came when designated hitter Samuel Basallo departed the game with right abdominal discomfort. Albernaz said it was a precautionary move and the Orioles should know more Saturday.

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.

This article has been updated.