By Field Level Media
The visiting Baltimore Orioles, who fortified their pitching by adding right-hander Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline on Tuesday, will try to maintain their dominance of the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night (Sportsnet and SN NOW, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT).
After the deadline, the Orioles went about their business as usual in improving their record in Toronto to 5-0 this season. The Orioles are 7-1 against the Blue Jays and have clinched the season series. They are first in the American League East, 7 1/2 games ahead of the third-place Blue Jays, who had hoped to cut away at the lead in the four-game home series but now can only break even.
The Orioles received solid outings from their starters in winning the first two games of the series. Kyle Gibson went six-plus innings in winning the opener 4-2 on Monday, and Kyle Bradish gave up three runs over seven innings Tuesday in a 13-3 win.
Acquiring Flaherty in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for three prospects will boost the Orioles’ pitching staff for the postseason run.
“We need help with the innings load down the stretch,” said Mike Elias, Baltimore’s executive vice president and general manager. “We’ve got a lot of young starters that haven’t done this before. We’ve got members of our relief corps that are injured or tired, and so we were just looking for pitching help in all shapes and sizes.”
In 20 starts with the Cardinals this season, Flaherty was 7-6 with a 4.43 ERA. In July, however, he had a 3.03 ERA and was 3-1 in five starts.
The Blue Jays also made a deal with the Cardinals, acquiring shortstop Paul DeJong, who did not play Tuesday.
With Bo Bichette (right knee inflammation) sidelined after being injured in the third inning Monday, Santiago Espinal played shortstop.
An MRI showed no structural damage to Bichette’s knee. He is listed as day-to-day, but a stint on the injured list had not been ruled out. DeJong will provide immediate help.
“(DeJong) is an interesting fit for us without the injury,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. “He has hit left-handers relatively well. He’s a very good defender that complements our organizational depth. He has great experiences, and I think it heightened the need with Bo’s injury.”
The Blue Jays sent minor league reliever Matt Svanson to the Cardinals.
In his Blue Jays debut, hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks, who was obtained in a trade with the Cardinals on Sunday, allowed three hits and two runs in the ninth inning Tuesday.
The Blue Jays are scheduled to start left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (8-3, 3.79) on Wednesday. In 10 career outings (seven starts) against the Orioles, he is 3-5 with a 6.00 ERA.
Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (2-2, 6.21) is Baltimore’s scheduled starter. This will be his second career start against the Blue Jays. He did not factor into the decision after allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in five innings in a Baltimore win on May 20.
The Blue Jays are 7-22 against AL East opponents this season. The Orioles are 23-13 in the division.
Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander hit his 19th home run and second career grand slam — and the second this season — in the eighth inning Tuesday. In eight games against Toronto in 2023, he is hitting .345 (10-for-29) with a double, two homers and eight RBIs.
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