Baltimore came in already without Ryan Mountcastle, Tyler O'Neill, Luis Robert Jr. and Christian Franklin, and lost more pitching depth the same afternoon when Kyle Bradish went on the injured list with lower-abdominal discomfort, a move since reported to end his season. The bullpen behind Rogers is still without Ryan Helsley, Felix Bautista, Colin Selby and Keegan Akin, all somewhere in rehab, and it showed.
Baltimore's relief unraveled in the 8th when Yaramil Hiraldo walked in a run with the bases loaded, and a Springer drive to left was misplayed into a 3-run double that turned a manageable game into an 8-1 rout. The Orioles' offense didn't help matters, going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranding 12 baserunners.
The loss dropped Baltimore to 3 games behind Cleveland for the final AL wild-card spot, while Toronto — now at .500 — sits just 1 game back and now owns a 6-4 edge in the season series, the tiebreaker between the two clubs if it comes down to that in the season's final weeks.
It was the kind of series finale that swings a race — Baltimore had stolen the opener behind Dylan Beavers's leadoff blast off Max Scherzer, only for Toronto to answer with back-to-back wins, the series and the tiebreaker both going the Blue Jays' way.