Orioles’ 6-run inning keys 10-2 win over Blue Jays behind Wells; Speculating on DL Hall’s arrival

The Orioles scored six runs in the third inning against former Oriole Kevin Gausman and Tyler Wells pitched six strong innings as the Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-2, at Rogers Centre on Thursday. The win gave the Orioles a split of their four-game series.

Ryan Mountcastle had a two-run single and Ryan McKenna hit two-run double in the sixth. Tyler Nevin also had a run-scoring double and Rougned Odor hit a sacrifice fly. The six-run inning equaled their biggest of the season.

Gausman (5-6) allowed seven runs, five earned, on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. Adley Rutschman’s forceout scored Cedric Mullins in the first inning.

Wells (4-4) allowed one run on five hits in six innings, striking out three and walking one. It was Wells’ third win and third quality start in his last four.

In the seventh, Odor had an RBI triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nevin. Austin Hays hit his ninth home run in the eighth.

The Orioles have a 28-37 record in 65 games. Last season, they didn’t win their 28^th game until Game No. 85.

The split with the Blue Jays (37-26) gave the Orioles a 4-4 record on their road trip to Kansas City and Baltimore. The Orioles return to Camden Yards on Friday night, beginning a three game series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Waiting for Hall: Left-hander DL Hall allowed one run on four hits in 4 1/3 innings as Triple-A Norfolk beat Syracuse, 6-2, on Thursday. Hall struck out 11 and walked two, throwing 89 pitches.

Hall’s latest effort came on the same day that the Orioles demoted a struggling Bruce Zimmermann to Norfolk. Zimmermann’s turn comes up on Tuesday when the Orioles face the Washington Nationals.

With an offday, the Orioles could skip over Zimmermann’s spot, but that doesn’t seem likely. The obvious choice would be Hall, who has thrown 38 1/3 innings in the minor leagues this season after being shut down after seven starts last season because of an elbow injury. The Orioles are monitoring his innings carefully.

Last year with Bowie, Hall pitched 31 2/3 innings. In 2018, he threw 94 1/3 innings with High-A Frederick, his most.

If Hall starts next Tuesday, it would be in the Orioles’ 69^th game. It will be interesting to see if they think he can pitch through the season. Pitching every five games and averaging five innings, which might be ambitious, could give Hall 65-to-70 major league innings.

AL East: Thursday’s win gives the Orioles a 12-18 record against the American League East. A year ago, the Orioles were 20-56 against the Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees.

The Orioles are 4-9 against New York, and play just six more games against them, three in the final week of the season. They’re 2-4 against Tampa Bay. They lost their first three games of the season at Tropicana Field,and won two of three against the Rays at Oriole Park May 20^th-22^nd. They lost 18 of 19 to Tampa Bay in 2021.

The Orioles were 5-14 against Toronto last season. After splitting the four games, they have 14 games left. The Blue Jays don’t play in Baltimore until August 8^th. Toronto was supposed to open the season at Oriole Park, but those games were rescheduled because of the lockout. Those games won’t be played until October 3^rd-5^th.

The Orioles have won five of eight against Boston.

Notes: The Orioles scored at least 10 runs for the third time this season. … Dean Kremer (1-1, 3.86) will face the Rays’ Shane Baz (0-1, 19.29) on Friday. The game will start at 6:05. Flo Rida will perform on the field after the game.

Kyle Bradish (1-4, 6.86) and Jeffrey Springs (3-2, 1.45) are scheduled for Saturday at 4:05.  Jordan Lyles (4-5, 5.10) and Corey Kluber (3-3, 3.50) are scheduled to pitch on Sunday.

In Norfolk’s win over Syracuse, third baseman Rylan Bannon hit a three-run home run, his seventh. Second baseman Jordan Westburg hit a two-run homer, his third. Centerfielder Terrin Vavra had three hits. Catcher Jacob Nottingham had two hits.