Blue Jays get just enough offence to defeat Orioles 2-1

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Having played fellow AL East foes in the Bosox, Rays and Yankees, the Blue Jays got their first shot at the Baltimore Orioles, a club that, like Toronto, is beginning to find its footing and sat a game behind them in the AL East standings.

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While it would be a stretch to rank this four-game series in Baltimore as “big’” it does amount to an opportunity for both teams to continue to roll.

Toronto entered the night with a 27-29 record, going 6-4 in its past 10. Baltimore came in at 26-30, but also 6-4 in its past 10.

The closeness in the standings was reflective in how close the game would unfold as the Jays eked out a 2-1 victory with an eighth-inning run.

After George Springer led off the inning with a double, Nathan Lukes advanced him to third with a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt.

Vlad Guerrero Jr. was issued an intentional walk before Daulton Varsho loaded the bases with walk of his own.
Kazuma Okamoto chased a pitch well outside the zone for the second out, which brought up Yohendrick Pinango, pinch-hitting for Myles Straw.

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After looking at strike one, the young lefty showed great plate discipline taking four consecutive pitches — two of them close enough to warrant ABS challenges from Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman — forcing home Springer from third with the winning run.

Baltimore had two on and two out against Tyler Rogers in the eighth when the Jays summoned Louis Varland.

The Jays closer had an 0-2 count on Weston Wilson when catcher Brandon Valenzuela gunned a throw down to first to pick off Pete Alonso and end the threat.

In the ninth, with a runner on first, Varland then induced back-to-back groundouts to seal a hard-fought victory in which the Blue Jays made all the right plays when it mattered most.

Included in that was catcher Brandon Valenzuela picking off Pete Alonso at first base to end the threat. It was a risky throw, knowing an errant toss would have likely led to the runner scoring from second.

Here are three takeaways from the series opener at Oriole Park at Camden Yards:

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PITCH PERFECT?

A slight exercise in hyperbole, but Thursday’s starters were terrific.

For O’s Chris Bassitt, it was his first meeting against the Blue Jays after spending the previous three seasons in Toronto, an eccentric soul who took the ball each time he was called upon, and was an important piece of the post-season puzzle when the Jays made their remarkable run.

Known for his guile and competitive edge, Bassitt did not disappoint when facing the Jays, providing the O’s with the kind of outing he would routinely give Toronto, six innings of one-run ball.

His counterpart in Patrick Corbin wasn’t even in the picture when the Jays began their season, albeit beset with injuries. Like Bassitt, Corbin’s 80-pitch outing would yield only one run on four hits.

Corbin went five innings, but there was no discernible difference between the two savvy starters.

ANDRES THE GIANT

Calling him an unsung hero would be too dismissive in sizing up the contributions from Andres Gimenez, whose stellar defence at shortstop is well-documented.

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When Bo Bichette took the big bucks this off-season and signed with the under-achieving New York Mets, Gimenez slid over from second base and has filled the full-time shortstop role quite nicely.

Not only did he turn in another defensive gem on Thursday, Gimenez went deep for the sixth time this season to give the Jays a 1-0 lead in the third.

Jesus Sanchez also has six dingers with only Kazuma Okamoto, with 11, hitting more.

MAYO PUTS ON POWER CLINIC

Of the handful of top prospects on Baltimore’s roster, perhaps the least profiled would be Coby Mayo.

When the likes of Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson burst on to the baseball scene, they quickly became household names.

Jackson Holliday brought his family lineage to the diamond and would hit his first homer in the show against the visiting Jays on a grand slam no less.

Mayo doesn’t carry quite a similar cache, but he’s no slouch, either. When he isn’t striking out, which he’s prone to do, Mayo is more than capable of going yard.

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In his first at-bat, Mayo struck out to end the first inning.

In his next at-bat, one swing tied the game after crushing his sixth homer of the season.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays have not announced their scheduled starter for Friday’s game (7:05 p.m.), underscoring the pitching pinch the club finds itself with Cody Ponce and Jose Berrios out for the balance of the season, while Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber are on the injured list. There was some speculation Thursday that Chad Dallas could be called up from triple-A Buffalo to get the start for the Jays. The Orioles are scheduled to send lefty Trevor Rogers (2-6, 6.96 ERA) to the bump.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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