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Adley Rutschman returns, Orioles bats explode in 11-4 win over Blue Jays

Taylor Lyons, The Baltimore Sun on

Published in Baseball

BALTIMORE — Adley Rutschman and his youthful spirit returned to Camden Yards on Monday. The catcher was reinstated from the injured list after a nearly six-week absence with an oblique strain.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino noticed Rutschman’s presence immediately in the form of “a lot of smiles, a lot of hugs” throughout the clubhouse in the hours before the series opener against Toronto, owners of the best record in baseball entering Monday. Mansolino added he was fascinated to see what a lineup with Rutschman in the four hole behind Gunnar Henderson in the third spot — putting a switch hitter behind the left-handed slugger — would do for both the catcher and shortstop.

The vibes were back. The lineup worked. Combined, they produced an 11-4 win over the scorching Toronto Blue Jays.

Rutschman clubbed a two-run double off the center field wall to break an early tie in the third inning, then flipped to the right-handed batter’s box and smacked another two-base hit to kick off a four-run fifth. The catcher finished the night 3 for 5 and pushed his season on-base-plus-slugging percentage over .700 in the win. His oblique looked fine, twice scoring from second on hits from Ramón Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn.

Rutschman’s injury, the first of his career that landed him on the injured list, came at an unfortunate time — he hit .309 with a .809 OPS in his last 15 games before the muscle strain. That came after he hit .203 with a paltry .332 slugging percentage through the end of May that more resembled a continuation of how he ended 2024.

The catcher was in the middle of an outburst that pushed Toronto starter Chris Bassitt out in the third inning and added five runs against its bullpen. The Blue Jays entered Monday as baseball’s hottest club, winners of eight of their past 10 and 18 of their past 23 in a run that slingshotted them to the top of the American League East. The Orioles made them look anything but the league’s best team.

Cedric Mullins, another vital piece Monday who still draws the loudest crowd support when introduced on a team full of budding young stars, knows his time in Baltimore could be dwindling after eight seasons with the club. So he’s making the most of his potential final days.

Mullins slugged a two-run homer to the flag court, his team-leading 15th of the year, to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the second. Then in the fourth, he robbed what could have been a game-tying, two-run shot that garnered a Zach Eflin hat tip and even louder standing ovation. And in the four-run fifth inning, he doubled to move Colton Cowser to third and allow him to score on a Coby Mayo groundout.

Mayo added a home run in the third, his fourth consecutive game with an extra-base hit, two runs driven in and two singles to raise his season OPS to .724 as he caps a breakout July. Laureano also homered to tie Mullins for the team lead. Cowser hit the team’s fourth and final home run of the night in the seventh.

Eflin did enough with the run support he received. The right-hander, another trade candidate, allowed four runs over 4 1/3 innings on eight hits. Nathan Lukes and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. home runs made it 3-3 in the third before Baltimore’s offense pulled away. Corbin Martin, Colin Selby, Grant Wolfram and Kade Strowd didn’t allow a run over the final 4 2/3 frames — the last one mired by Strowd hitting Toronto’s George Springer in the head with a 96 mph sinker that ushered an eerie silence throughout the ballpark — to finish off Baltimore’s fourth win in five games.

 

Instant analysis

Monday was just the sixth time this season the Orioles deployed a lineup with Rutschman, Henderson, Cowser, Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg all in it. That group went 7 for 22 in the win. Westburg added three singles on top of Rutschman’s warm welcome back and Cowser’s solo blast.

Injuries and underperformances among Baltimore’s young core are partially to blame for this disappointing season. Rutschman, Cowser and Westburg have all missed extended stretches with injuries. It took Henderson some time to replicate his output from last season, while Holliday’s following a dreadful June with a solid July. The next two months will be for those five to acclimate themselves together to show the front office how to construct a lineup around them in 2026.

By the numbers

Mullins and Mayo’s second-inning home runs was the eighth time the Orioles have hit back-to-back homers this season, and the first since they went back-to-back-to-back against the Texas Rangers on June 24.

On deck

Baltimore and Toronto square off in a doubleheader Tuesday. Game 1, a makeup from April 11, will begin at 12:35 p.m. ET with the nightcap starting at 6:35. Mansolino said Charlie Morton will start one of Tuesday’s games, and the Blue Jays have only announced that left-hander Eric Lauer (2.61 ERA) will start Game 2.

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©2025 The Baltimore Sun. Visit at baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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