Kazuma Okamoto (left) of the Toronto Blue Jays, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (right) and Louis Varland (centre) celebrate their win oer the visiting Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on Sunday.Kevin Sousa/Getty Images
The Blue Jays appeared to be en route to another series loss in the sixth inning on Sunday, another contribution to their one step forward, two steps back pattern.
They trailed the Orioles 4-0 and hadn’t gotten much done against Baltimore starter Shane Baz. But then a little bit of good luck interceded and they scored five times in what became an eventual 6-4 victory before a happy sell-out crowd at Rogers Centre.
Gunnar Henderson, the Orioles’ usually sure-handed shortstop booted an easy double-play grounder which opened the door for Toronto’s 17th comeback of 2026. Andrés Giménez delivered a game-tying double and Nathan Lukes brought home the winner on an infield single.
Nine players batted in the frame, with Yohendrick Piñango swatting a lead-off homer, Brandon Valenzuela driving in a run on a fielder’s choice and Kazuma Okamoto plating another with a single before Giménez’s bullet to right field.
Four of the five runs Baz (3-6) allowed were unearned.
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“It’s a weird game sometimes,” John Schneider, the Blue Jays manager, said. “We took advantage of an error and then stacked the at-bats together.”
Kevin Gausman cruised through the first four innings but imploded in the fifth. Baltimore scored all four of its runs then, bunching together a long ball by Colton Cowser, a triple by Jackson Holliday, a run-scoring double by Blaze Alexander and a two-run homer by Taylor Ward.
“I felt pretty good early on, but then the fifth kind of got away from me,” Gausman said. “Other than that I was pretty good.”
Adam Macko, Connor Seabold, Tyler Rogers and Louis Varland combined to shut down the Orioles the rest of the way. Macko, who began the season at Triple-A Buffalo, earned the win and is 2-0. In 11 outings he has given up two runs, struck out 11 and walked just one.
Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela is doused in ice water as his teammates celebrate their Sunday win over the Orioles.Dan Hamilton/Reuters
Rogers, who throws underhand with his knuckles nearly dragging against the dirt, entered in the seventh with runners on first and third and induced Ward to ground into a double play.
All the 6-foot-3 right-hander does is toss up 80-mile-per-hour sinkers, and sliders that are even slower, but still manages to baffle hitters like he is throwing a whiffle ball. He recorded his 14th hold of the campaign, which is the third-most in the major leagues.
At 32-34 Toronto climbed back to within two games of .500 and is within seven of a wildcard position in the mediocre American League. The Orioles dropped to 31-35. Toronto got battered 13-3 on Friday before it evened the series with a 6-4 win on Saturday and squeezed lemonade out of a lemon on Sunday.
The Phillies visit on Monday through Wednesday with the New York Yankees on tap the weekend. Lefty Patrick Corbin (2-2) will get the start in the opener against Philadelphia. Christopher Sanchez, also left-handed, gets the nod for the Phillies.
The Blue Jays got two hits each from Piñango, Giménez and Jesús Sánchez and a seventh home run from Valenzuela, the rookie catcher who is likely to take the back-up role away from Tyler Heineman when Alejandro Kirk returns from an injury.
Valenzuela is now second on the club in four-baggers behind Okamoto’s 13.
“He is confident and taking good swings,” Schneider said of Valenzuela. “He is showing he is a pretty good all-around player.”
Varland entered in the eighth with two outs and a runner on first and punched out pinch-hitter Leody Taveras. After Cowser beat out a bunt to start the ninth, Varland retired three in a row for his 11th save in as many opportunities.
He had never been a closer until Jeff Hoffman sputtered badly this year.
“He has got that bulldog mentality,” Gausman said of Varland. “He is a fiery guy with electric stuff.”