BIRD BATH: Blue Jays score 22 runs to end weekend’s series against Orioles

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Turns out, there was a crooked laugh at the Blue Jays’ visit to Baltimore after all.

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And an embarrassment to all things Orioles, really.

Inning for inning, at-bat, at-bat, the Blue Jays broke all sorts of franchise records on Sunday, rolling to a humiliating 22-7 victory over the Overtaken O’s.

The punch that followed a pair of late-inning explosions on a doubleheader sweep Saturday allowed the Blue Jays to take three of four from last-place O’s and cap off a fiery 7-1 road trip that included a sweep of four games. at Yankee Stadium.

A September to remember? The Blue Jays are 11-1 on the month so far, making their longest sustained streak of the season at the precise moment it was needed most. And with the White Sox walking away from the Red Sox, the Blue Jays found themselves with a share of the first wild-card spot in the American League.

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Madness everywhere, it turns out.

Playing their most explosive offensive baseball of the season, which is saying something, the Blue Jays return to Toronto for a six-game home run Monday in possession of a spot in the American League playoffs.

With 44 runs in their last three games, the Blue Jays improved to 80-63, more games over .500 than at the end of the 2016 season.

And the Blue Jays are certainly sending a strong message to the competition after gaining enormous ground in the playoff race over the past two weeks.

“I think we’re putting pressure on everyone else,” said Sunday’s starter Steven Matz. “That’s what we want: the pressure to be on them. They know that in one inning we can score 10 runs and that’s something very special.

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“(The offense) is quite indescribable. Speak for itself. It’s crazy. “

On Sunday, the Blue Jays started the game with a single, a pair of walks, a hitter and a grand slam by Lourdes Gurriel. Before Orioles starter Zac Lowther even recorded an out, the Blue Jays were up 5-0.

And it got a lot uglier for the locals.

They scored another run in the second, with Vlad Guerrero’s 44th homer of the season, and posted a 10 in the third. They basically turned plate appearances into extended batting practice in a game where they hit five more home runs, including another grand slam, from Teoscar Hernandez.

The hits, and the records, kept coming as we tried to recap here:

  • Let’s start with wild-haired outfielder Gurriel, whose first of two home runs in the game was the fourth of the season, making him the first Blue Jays hitter to do so.
  • Gurriel’s seven RBIs, five runs scored and three walks on the day were all career highs. His fifth-inning pump traveled 460 feet, making it the longest of his career.
  • All 47The Blue Jays’ runs were the most they have ever achieved in a four-game series, topping the 42-set against the Orioles in 1978.
  • The 16 runs in the first three innings were the most in club history. And with the 11 who scored in the seventh inning on Saturday night, the 27 who scored in a four-inning span were the most in MLB history.It was only the third time in club history that the Blue Jays surpassed 20 runs in a game.
  • Hernandez and Gurriel’s slam-fest marked the first time two Blue Jays hitters cleared the bases with a home run in a game.
  • After Sunday’s third inning, the Blue Jays had racked up 38 runs in the previous 17 innings. The 16 runs in the first three innings were the most in club history during that span.
  • With five home runs Sunday, the Blue Jays hit 13 in the previous two days, increasing their MLB lead in that category to 230. They have hit five for more home runs in a game seven times this season.

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A one-sided competition from the start, the Blue Jays capitalized on an Orioles lineup heading for a possible 110-loss season as it crawled to the bottom of the AL East standings. And the bombardment continued where the team left off Saturday night when they scored 11 runs in the seventh (the last inning of the second half of the doubleheader) to record an 11-1 victory.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in straight days and I’ve been in the game for 35 years,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “Scoring 22… that’s impressive.

“I knew we were going to warm up in August because we had too many good hitters.”

The runs aren’t likely to be that generous when they take on the division-leading Rays on Monday at the Rogers Center, but the dominant tour has set them up for a serious push toward the playoffs.

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VLAD SEASON

Guerrero’s home run in the second inning continued his momentum through one of the most productive slugging seasons in franchise history.

Now 44, the 22-year-old is tied with Carlos Delgado (1999) for the current fourth-highest home run in a season in club history. It also coincided with his father’s Hall of Fame career record, Vlad Sr., hit by the Montreal Expos in 2000.

Next on Guerrero’s list is José Canseco, who reached 46 in 1998. The club’s record belongs to José Bautista, who achieved 54 in 2010.

Sunday’s home run put Guerrero in a tie with Angels Shohei Ohtani for the AL lead. It was also his 10th against the Orioles, the most a Blue Jays hitter has achieved against a team in a season.

AROUND THE BASES

After playing both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader, including his dramatic game-winning homer in the first, George Springer had the day off to rest his sore knee. A smart move from management given the value a healthy Springer could have down the stretch and beyond … The explosion allowed the Blue Jays to make several late-game substitutions. “It worked really well because we’ve been playing so many games in a row,” Montoyo said… Hernandez’s grand slam was only the second of his career and the outfielder scored four runs on the day, a personal record.

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