Kyle Bradish lasts only 3 innings as Orioles lose to Blue Jays, 7-3

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TORONTO — Kyle Bradish may need a breather. He is not likely to admit that. Nor are the Orioles. The right-handed starting pitcher appears to have hit a wall, however, and that wall arrived early in Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Bradish, who has pitched more than he has in three seasons due to past injuries, surrendered two homers as part of the five runs Toronto plated in three innings. Since late July, Bradish has fallen from the early-season heights that prompted a contract extension.

Bradish finished his July 22 start with a 3.49 ERA. Including Saturday’s loss, Bradish holds a 5.83 ERA across his next nine starts.

The trickle-down of that short start — the seventh time in nine outings that Bradish didn’t complete six innings — is it forced Baltimore’s bullpen to carry the bulk of the load Saturday. And, although those relievers did well, with two runs among them in five innings, the Orioles (72-77) were behind immediately when the Blue Jays began teeing off on Bradish.

Leadoff walks in the first and second innings didn’t help. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s double and Alejandro Kirk’s single plated a pair of runs in the first inning, and then Toronto found the long ball. Brett Bateman homered for a second straight game, and Kirk lifted a two-run shot.

Bradish’s day was done after three innings, and the Orioles’ offensive approach against the Blue Jays’ bullpen game wasn’t strong.

One sequence in the third inning proved emblematic of the poor at-bats that creep into the Orioles’ game at times this year. Left-hander Joe Mantiply threw eight pitches. None was in the strike zone. And yet, despite all those would-be balls, Mantiply got out of the inning in no time.

Dylan Beavers, Pete Alonso and Jackson Holliday were all ahead in the count. They all swung at balls, although Beavers’ was a check swing and he didn’t mean to make contact. The three routine groundouts let Mantiply off the hook.

That’s not an across-the-board issue for Baltimore. The Orioles entered with a 9.8% walk rate, which is the fourth best in baseball, and their 15.3% chase rate as a team is about league average. But, as the offense struggled to create pressure against the Blue Jays’ bullpen, it was as maddening as the inning prior.

In the second inning, the bottom of Baltimore’s order came to the plate against right-hander Spencer Miles, who barely escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first because Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s fly ball lost steam at the warning track. Miles struck out Heston Kjerstad, Colton Cowser and Carlos Narváez.

Alonso found a semblance of revenge later, and it leaves him on the doorstep of history with a return to Citi Field — his longtime home with the Mets — arriving Monday. He belted a two-run home run off the left-field foul pole, and with it, the slugger has 299 long balls in his career.

That also marks Alonso’s 35th home run this year, which is 18 more than any Orioles player managed last season.

Little else went Baltimore’s way except a twist of nostalgia at third base, when Encarnacion-Strand fielded a chopper and faked a throw to first base before turning to third. He threw to Gunnar Henderson, covering the bag, and Henderson tagged out Andrés Giménez. It was eerily similar to a play Manny Machado made in 2012 and, upon inspection, it’s even more amazing.

Machado’s fake-to-first, throw-to-third play came Sept. 12, 2012 — exactly 14 years ago.

Two standout defensive plays on the same date. Baseball has that way about it.

Apart from that, the Orioles will want to forget this one quickly. As right-hander Chris Bassitt said Friday night, Baltimore must treat every game as a must-win situation, even if there is slightly more wiggle room than that. The Orioles have a chance to win the series Sunday, but with Bradish scuffling immediately, they were out of this game early.