– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho made a game-altering play on the defensive end in the fourth inning, and it took until late in the game for that moment to come to the fore once again — soon after one swing from his bat helped turned what looked to be a tough-luck loss into one of the best wins of the season.
Varsho hit a game-tying solo home run in the eighth inning before his RBI groundout in the 10th inning gave the Blue Jays a 3-2 victory over the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Monday. José Berríos continued his career-long mastery of the Orioles, allowing just two runs and three hits on seven innings in getting a no decision.
Berríos came into tonight 10-1 against Baltimore in 14 prior starts, but was in line to get the loss before Varsho launched an off-speed pitch from reliever Yennier Cano over the high right field wall for his team-leading seventh home run to tie the game. Varsho picked up his second RBI when he was able to push the automatic runner home from third base in the 10th with a ground out to second with one out.
Yimi García and Jordan Romano combined to throw hitless innings in relief, with García striking out the side in the eighth before Romano worked a perfect ninth and stranded the Orioles’ automatic runner at third in the 10th when he got Cedric Mullins to ground out to second to end the game.
“I think this showed that the nine guys in the lineup really, really care about this team,” Varsho said. “Up and down through that lineup, we put really good at-bats together and we won this game because of that.”
Before Varsho’s heroics at the plate, he robbed Orioles’ designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn of a home run in the fourth inning when he leaped over the wall to catch the fly ball in the left-centerfield gap.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday evening’s game, with photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. 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 25 pictures in total.
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