(Toronto) Raimel Tapia, a left fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, performed brilliantly at bat and defensively and continued the momentum of September.
Updated yesterday at 8:16 p.m.
Raimel Tapia hit a double that emptied the trails in the fifth inning and led the Blue Jays to a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
With a 3-2 lead for the Canadian squad, Tapia came up to the plate and hit a double into center field. He helped the Blue Jays improve to 13-4 in September, an MLB high.
Back-to-back wins over the Orioles gave the Blue Jays their sixth straight series.
“I feel good,” noted Tapia, who took advantage of outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s injury to get more playing time.
“But even when I’m not playing, I stay focused. I’m going to the batting cage, because you have to be ready. »
The Blue Jays (83-63) also stretched their seven-game lead over the Orioles (75-69) in the All-American playoff race.
John Schneider’s men rank first among the teams drafted while the Orioles sit fourth. The top three clubs will advance to the playoffs.
“We had some good starting pitchers,” Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider admitted. We hit at key times today and had a great defense. Obviously, this is a good recipe. »
The Blue Jays scored a run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Matt Chapman. They picked up where they left off in second, as Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal crossed home on a George Springer double.
Springer had a strong game. He hit two on four at bats, drove in two runs, crossed home plate and made a spectacular catch while diving on a Ramon Urias strike.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went on base for an 11e game in a row thanks to a single in the first.
Orioles starter Kyle Bradish (3-7) found his way back after a poor start. He struck out nine straight batters before Urias missed a throw that catalyzed the Blue Jays offense in the fifth.
Bradish allowed six hits, walked one and struck out three in four and two-thirds innings.
Queen City starter Jose Berrios (11-5) struck out three, allowed two walks and was the victim of seven hits in six innings of work.
Reliever Jordan Romano landed his 34e campaign rescue.