For the first time in exactly two years, it looked like the Baltimore Orioles were going to get swept.
Thankfully, Adley Rutschman saved the day.
Rutschman hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday afternoon to power the Orioles to a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards.
The win means that the Orioles split what ended up being a two-game series with the Blue Jays after Tuesday’s game was rained out. Baltimore has now gone 105 straight regular-season series of at least two games without being swept. That’s an American League record and the third-longest run in major league history.
The Orioles are just one more series away from matching the New York Giants, who went 106 straight series without being swept from 1903-1905. The St. Louis Cardinals hold the all-time record with 125 series, which they pulled off from 1942-1944 while winning two World Series titles. The New York Yankees are fourth on that list, though they made it just 83 series in the 1920s.
If all goes well, the Orioles could surpass that all-time mark just after the All-Star break in their series against the Blue Jays that starts on July 29. Their last sweep in the regular season was from May 13-15, 2022 when they lost to the Detroit Tigers. The Orioles were swept in the ALDS against the Texas Rangers last season.
The Blue Jays carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning after Bo Bichette hit a two-run double in the third. That came after Jordan Westburg hit a solo home run to get the game started in the opening inning. The to have a leadoff and walk-off home runs account for all of their runs scored in a single game since 1983.
The Orioles now hold a 27-14 record, which is good for first in the AL East. The Blue Jays are last in the division at just 19-23 on the year, 8.5 games back from the Orioles.
