Orioles waste 6 homers, including 3 from Ryan Mountcastle, in 10-7 loss to Blue Jays

BALTIMORE — It appeared Saturday would be a second straight day of celebration at Camden Yards. Ryan Mountcastle hit three home runs, eliciting a second curtain call in as many games. The man who earned the former, Cedric Mullins, again homered twice.

But it was not meant to be. Each of the four Orioles relievers who followed rookie starter Dean Kremer allowed a run, including a ninth-inning implosion from Paul Fry and Tyler Wells as the Toronto Blue Jays struck for six runs to secure a series-evening 10-7 victory. The game featured a benches-clearing incident in the fourth after Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah hit Maikel Franco with his next pitch after allowing consecutive home runs to Mountcastle and DJ Stewart.

The Orioles led 7-2 through six innings, with Mountcastle joining Nick Markakis as the only rookies in franchise history to homer three times in a gem. The trifecta tied him with Mullins and Trey Mancini for the team lead, only for Mullins to reclaim it with another solo shot in the seventh after the Blue Jays got a run in the seventh on a double play started on a sterling snag from second baseman Stevie Wilkerson.

But after Baltimore became only the second team in major league history to have their first six hits be home runs, they failed to score again. The Blue Jays got within three on Marcus Semien’s second home run in the eighth; he had taken Kremer deep to open the afternoon, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did the same two batters later for his league-leading 23rd home run.

But after cleanup man Randal Grichuk singled, Kremer settled in and didn’t allow another hit as he posted Baltimore’s first six-inning start of June.

Fry, who has been used infrequently since becoming the Orioles’ closer, struggled with his command for the second time in three outings, loading the bases with one out and walking a run in with two. Manager Brandon Hyde called on the rookie Wells, who has climbed up the bullpen ladder with a dominant June, to earn what could’ve been his first career save. His nine-pitch battle with Bo Bichette ended with a looping single to right that just evaded Anthony Santander’s glove, allowing the tying run to score. Guerrero scored two more with a double on the next pitch and scored when Grichuk doubled, as well.

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In tearing up major league pitching in his first stint as an Oriole, Mountcastle lived up to the lofty expectations he carried with him to Camden Yards. After struggling in the opening month of his first full season as a big leaguer, he’s gone back to doing just that.

After batting .198 while struggling defensively in April, Mountcastle entered Saturday batting .289 with an OPS of .834 since. At .769, he has not ended a game with his OPS higher than when he completed his 35-game 2020 season at .878.

The Blue Jays struck for two home runs themselves off Kremer in the first inning, with Mountcastle’s first home run in the second cutting Toronto’s lead in half. After Mullins tied the game in the third, Mountcastle’s two-run blast provided Baltimore its first lead, and Stewart quickly added to it before the benches-clearing plunking.

With a chance at the major leagues’ 17th four-home run game, Mountcastle smoked a 108.6-mph single to left on the first pitch he saw in the eighth for his second career four-hit day.