Blue Jays’ big third inning sinks Kyle Bradish, Orioles in 6-4 loss

TORONTO — That pesky third out kept eluding Kyle Bradish.

The Orioles starter had no issue recording the first two outs of the third inning during the second game of this series against the Toronto Blue Jays. But his two-out walk to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. opened a bag of winds for the Blue Jays’ sails, and there was no cinching it until six batters reached base and four runs had crossed.

The measure of a starting pitcher is how he responds to adversity — be it in the game, such as when he walked Guerrero, or in his next start, once Bradish has a chance to put this aside. Given the way Bradish has pitched over the last month, it stands to reason this is an anomaly.

It didn’t help Baltimore on Saturday, however. Once a single sneaked through the infield — deflecting off second baseman Jackson Holliday’s glove — Ernie Clement lofted a three-run home run that helped to build a Toronto lead that could withstand three home runs from Baltimore’s batters.

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.

“Think I didn’t have my best feel for it,” Bradish said of his curveball, which he threw much less frequently than usual. “That and the slider, they weren’t that good today.”

Bradish is a major reason the Orioles’ rotation has turned around its season over the last few weeks. In his previous five starts, he produced a 1.72 ERA and he looked more like the dominant Cy Young Award-caliber pitcher he was before an elbow injury took most of his 2024 and 2025 seasons.

These sorts of outings happen in the course of a season. The trick is minimizing them. Bradish has done a good job of that. Before this four-inning start, he completed six innings or more in four of his previous five outings.

And, while his starts earlier in the year were shaky, the five runs against him Saturday matched his season high — and, even then, only twice in 12 previous starts had Bradish allowed four earned runs or more.

In hindsight, Bradish wasn’t upset he walked Guerrero with two outs in the third. “Just from the hitter he is and being in a 1-1 ballgame,” he said.

“But got to get the next guy out, and obviously can’t hang the slider to Ernie there,” Bradish continued.

Bradish didn’t get the next guy out. Jesús Sánchez sneaked a single through the infield that deflected off Holliday’s glove. Had Holliday snared the ball, there was a play to be made at second base and that would’ve been the third out.

“It’s a tough play. It’s a fast turf,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “No, I think if he had a bigger glove, maybe, but nah. But I expect Jackson to make that play, would have been a hell of a play, but that’s the expectation we have with Jackson. But, nah, that was a really tough play to make.”

The Orioles got on the board first with a solo homer from Colton Cowser, and they popped two more homers later in the game. One of them, a two-run homer from Pete Alonso, drew boos for right-hander Jeff Hoffman from the Toronto crowd. Blaze Alexander also lined a solo shot.

Cowser’s home run is part of a recent surge for the outfielder, and he avoided an injury when he crashed into the wall in the fifth inning trying to catch Clement’s triple. Cowser’s hand went numb, he said, and it took a few minutes before the feeling came back.

Once it did, he was “tested right away” by Brandon Valenzuela’s deep sacrifice fly off left-hander Keegan Akin. Cowser ranged to the wall in right-center to catch it.

Across Cowser’s last 19 games, he’s hitting .348 with five homers and a 1.099 OPS. Two of those homers have come against Blue Jays right-hander Spencer Miles’ sinker.

“Three-2 [count], just was looking for something over the heart of the plate,” Cowser said, “and put a good swing on it.”

But, with a run scoring against Akin and with five against Bradish, the Orioles couldn’t complete this comeback. They’ll aim for a series win Sunday afternoon.

This article has been updated.