– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — The combination of José Berríos on the mound and Baltimore Orioles hitters at the plate has been such a one-sided match-up over the years that it seemed as if the only thing missing during the former’s stretch of dominance has been a no-hitter against the latter.
Berríos almost made good on that historic feat tonight on his way to bamboozling the Birds one more time.
Carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Berríos pitched 7 2/3 innings of masterful baseball and allowed just three hits and a walk as the Blue Jays defeated the Orioles 3-1 on Wednesday night to even up the three-game series at a game apiece. George Springer hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth inning to break a scoreless deadlock, while Whit Merrifield and Bo Bichette each hit RBI doubles in the eighth inning to add insurance.
The red-hot Orioles, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped, literally ran into their kryptonite, as Berríos now improves to 10-0 with a 2.66 ERA in 13 career starts against Baltimore in his career. One of his previous 10 wins against Baltimore was a complete-game three-hit shutout while a member of the Minnesota Twins in 2018, a game in which he went into the ninth inning allowing just one hit.
Regardless of the opponent, Berríos has been the best pitcher on the Blue Jays staff this season, as he is 4-0 in his past five starts overall and has allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his past eight starts.
Kyle Bradish ended up the tough-luck loser for the Orioles, as he all but matched Berríos pitch-for-pitch in going seven innings and allowing just four hits, with the only run he gave up being Springer’s homer in the sixth.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Elliott Brown. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 22 pictures in total.
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