Skip to content
TORONTO — Cedric Mullins had three hits, Tyler Wells pitched six innings to win starts for the first time in a row, and the Orioles beat former Baltimore pitcher Kevin Gausman in a 10-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.
Wells (4-4) allowed a run and five hits and went six innings in consecutive starts for the first time in his career to help the Orioles split the four-game streak.
“We took some really good bats from Gausman,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. “I was really happy with the pressure we were putting on them and getting him in the striking zone. We just jumped on him early. It was great.”
Austin Hays hit his ninth home run, a solo shot against Matt Gage in the eighth, and Rougned Odor had two hits and two RBI as Baltimore won for the fourth time in six games.
“I didn’t hit my points,” Gausman said. “My pitches just didn’t really have anything today. Obviously unacceptable.”
Gausman (5-6) faced the team that drafted him the first time and allowed a worst seven runs of the season, five earned and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of 2022.
“I was really excited to face them, to be honest,” Gausman said. “Baltimore has always been a special place in my heart. I was there a long time. I really wanted to go out there and blame them, to be honest. Not what I imagined when I first started against my former team.”
Gausman, who lost his third straight start, had not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his 12 previous starts.
“He didn’t rule all his courts,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. “They did a good job putting down his splinter and slider. It seemed like they were looking for the fastball and got it.”
Baltimore selected Gausman with their fourth overall pick in 2012 and spent portions of six seasons with the Orioles, where he went 39-51 in 150 games with a 4.22 ERA before joining Atlanta in 2018.
Toronto’s Teoscar Hernández hit a homer in the second straight game, a solo blaster from Wells in the fourth that ended a run of nine straight batters retiring.
Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette left the team after seven innings, one inning after fouling a pitch off his right foot. The defensive changes saw slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. switch from first base to third base for the final two innings. Third, he had no chance.
Mullins led the first inning with a single, stole the second and hit on a fielder’s choice Adleyrutschman grounder.
The Orioles started out with a six-run, seven-hit third, matching their biggest inning of the season. Mullins started with a single, and third baseman Santiago Espinal made a two-base error on Hays’ grounder, resulting in Ryan Mountcastle’s two-run single.
Slipman doubled Mountcastle into third, Odor hit a sacrificial fly, and Tyler Nevin and Ryan McKenna hit RBI doubles on back-to-back pitches to bring Gausman’s outing to an ugly end.
“For whatever reason, I couldn’t figure it out and couldn’t make the adjustment,” Gausman said.
David Phelps came in and finished Robinson Chirinos, then dropped an RBI single to Jorge Mateo and Mullins’ second single of the inning before getting Hays to fly out.
TRAINING ROOM
Orioles: 1B Trey Mancini (right hand) was seated for the third straight game.
Blue Jays: 3B Matt Chapman (left wrist) was unavailable. Chapman missed three games earlier this week but played Tuesday and Wednesday, going 3 for 8 with two homes. …BY George Springer got the day off.
TWICE AS BEAUTIFUL
Before Mullins did it Thursday, Mountcastle was the last Orioles player with a two-hit inning to do it on Sept. 8, 2021 against Kansas City.
COMPLETE SENTENCE
Baltimore was the only major league team Gausman had not faced prior to Thursday.
roster moves
Baltimore selected struggling LHP Bruce Zimmermann to Triple-A Norfolk and recalled Norfolk RHP Michael Baumann. Zimmermann has allowed more home runs (17) than strikeouts (16) in his last seven starts. … Hyde said substitutes Kyle Stowers and RHP Rico Garcia will return to Triple-A Norfolk on Friday, with OF Anthony Santander and LHP Keegan Akin activated from the restricted list.
NEXT
Orioles: RHP Dean Kremer (1-1, 3.86 ERA) starts Friday as Baltimore returns home to begin a three-game streak against Tampa Bay. RHP Shane Baz (0-1, 19.29) starts for the Rays.
Blue Jays: RHP Ross Stripling (3-1, 3:14) starts Friday as Toronto begins a three-game series against the New York Yankees. LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-1, 2.70) goes for the Yankees.
——