Raimel Tapia, a left fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, continued his September momentum with a stellar performance both batting and defensively.
Tapia hit a double that blanked Trails in the fifth inning to give the Blue Jays a 6-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
With a 3–2 lead for the Canadians, Tapia came up to the plate and hit a double to 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,” said Tapia, who took advantage of an injury to outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 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 prepared. »
The Blue Jays (83–63) also extended their seven-game lead over the Orioles (75–69) in the All-American playoff race.
John Schneider’s men are ranked first among teams drafted while the Orioles are ranked fourth. The top three clubs will advance to the playoffs.
“We had some good starting pitchers,” admitted Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider. We hit at key times today and our defense was outstanding. Obviously, this is a great recipe. ,
The Blue Jays scored a run in the first inning on Matt Chapman’s sacrifice fly. He picked up where he left off in the second, when Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal drove home on a George Springer double.
Springer had a strong game. He went two-for-four in at bats, drove in two runs, crossed home plate and made a diving catch on the strikeout of Ramon Urias.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went on base for the 11th game in a row, thanks to a single in the first.
Orioles starter Kyle Bradish (3-7) made a comeback after a poor start. He struck out nine straight batters before Urias missed the throw that catalyzed the Blue Jays’ offense in the fifth.
Bradish allowed six hits, walked one and struck out three over 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 notched up his 34th save of the campaign.