Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan McKenna shined at the plate, and Brandon Hyde pulled all the right strings in a 7-3 win over the Blue Jays. The Orioles crossed the border reeling after dropping two of three in Tampa Bay. Baltimore dropped the biggest game it had played all season against the Rays on Sunday, which only heightened the stakes this week against Toronto. The Orioles went eight innings without a base runner on Sunday, but they jumped on the Blue Jays early tonight. Baltimore posted a pair of crooked numbers against Tusei Kikuchi and made a statement with a 7-3 victory in the first of three against the Jays. Baltimore chased Kikuchi for the second time in as many weeks. The Orioles tagged Kikuchi for five runs in a win at Camden Yards on August 8, and took him for six runs in just 3.1 innings tonight. Brandon Hyde played the matchup game and started eight righties against the lefty. Ryan McKenna took Cedric Mullins’ spot in the lineup, and he did not waste his opportunity. McKenna doubled twice and posted his first three-hit game in the majors from the leadoff spot. The 25-year-old extended his hit streak to six games and continued his strong performance against left-handed pitching. McKenna got things started right away with a double that landed behind Vlad Guerrero Jr. down the first base line. McKenna raced around the bases and scored on a single by Anthony Santander. Santander—now eligible to play in Toronto after receiving his COVID vaccine—added a pair of walks and immediately made his presence known north of the border. Santander worked his first walk in the third inning to put a runner on for Ryan Mountcastle. Mountcastle has owned Toronto all season, and he lived up to his reputation tonight. He worked a nine-pitch walk in his first at bat, and sent a ball back to Baltimore in the third inning. MASN’s Kevin Brown had just asked what the country of Canada ever did to Ryan before Mountcastle blasted a 417-foot no doubter over the left field fence. The round-tripper provided Baltimore a three-run lead and prompted Brown to dub Mountcastle “The destroyer of Canadian worlds.” Mountcastle did not have much of an answer when asked about his strong performance against Toronto this season. He smiled and said “it’s just one of those things, and I’m definitely not upset about it.” Neither are we, Ryan. Neither are we. Toronto trimmed the deficit to one with a two-run single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the third, but the Orioles reclaimed the momentum in the fourth. The inning started innocently enough with Jorge Mateo reaching on an errant throw and Terrin Vavra working a walk. Kikuchi sailed a pickoff attempt into center field, and suddenly the Orioles had two runners in scoring position. Tyler Nevin bounced a hard-hit ground ball to Bo Bichette and Mateo immediately broke for the plate. Bichette made a strong throw home, but Mateo dove in and beat the tag. Not many players score there, but Mateo did. McKenna laced his second double of the game to score Vavra, and Hyde sent Brett Phillips out to pinch run for Nevin at third. The move immediately paid off with Phillips scoring on a Ryan Mountcastle sacrifice fly. The Orioles led 6-to-2. Kyle Bradish delivered a strong shutdown inning in the fourth, but failed to complete the fifth inning. Bradish allowed a solo home run to Guerrero and singles by Gurriel and Bichette before Hyde came for the ball. Bryan Baker needed just one pitch to end the inning with a pop out by Matt Chapman. Hyde managed with a must-win mindset and was rewarded for it. Pinch running in the fourth inning and using a quick hook on Bradish were winning moves. Baker stayed on and worked a clean sixth that included strikeouts by Raimel Tapia and Danny Jansen. Dillon Tate tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief and Cionel Pérez got the only out asked of him in the eighth. Félix Bautista entered in a non-save situation and allowed a single to Whit Merrifield and a walk to George Springer. Mateo and Adley Rutschman made a mound visit with one out, and Bautista immediately ended the game with a 6-4-3 double play. The Orioles recorded eight hits and worked six walks in the game. They used a blend of power, speed, and situational hitting. Ramón Urías sandwiched a single between walks by Mountcastle and Mateo before Vavra drove in the seventh run with a sacrifice fly. The Orioles moved to 60-55 and now sit 1.5 games behind the Blue Jays in the Wild Card standings. Baltimore will have an opportunity to make up ground with Dean Kremer facing Alek Manoah tomorrow night.

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports On Monday evening, the Baltimore Ravens released a pair of veteran players in running back Corey Clement and cornerback Robert Jackson. The Ravens roster now currently stands at 87 players — a total they must trim to 85 by 4:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday. We have released RB Corey Clement and CB Robert Jackson.— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 15, 2022 Clement, 27, was just signed by the Ravens a few weeks ago. The former Philadelphia Eagle and Dallas Cowboy added some depth at running back for a number of practices. With J.K. Dobbins recently returning to practice off the PUP list, though, and a number of other options at the position, Clement was always likely to be an odd-man out. In Thursday’s preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans, Clement rushed four times for 17 yards and was targeted once in the passing game. Releasing him might be a vote of confidence in Dobbins’ chances of being ready come Week 1, and also bode well for the roster chances of veteran Mike Davis and fourth-year running back Justice Hill. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Clement get scooped up by another team looking for running back and/or special teams help in short order. Clement memorably had 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl LII, playing a key role in the Eagles defeating the New England Patriots. Jackson joined the Ravens in the middle of the 2021 regular season. He came onboard as a replacement player in the secondary, where the Ravens were ravaged by injuries. The former undrafted free agent appeared in five games for the team, primarily as a special teams contributor. He was thrust into an expanded defensive role in Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers, where he played 38 snaps on defense. He played five defensive snaps the following week against the Cincinnati Bengals, which was his last non-special teams action of the year. The Ravens recently brought back veteran cornerback Daryl Worley, who similarly was a late-season addition in 2021. Worley had an interception in Week 1 of the preseason this past week, which may have helped give him an edge over Jackson on the outskirts of the cornerback depth chart.

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images Ryan Mountcastle returns for the first of three games against another Wild Card contender. The Orioles will look to bounce back after dropping a pivotal weekend series against Tampa Bay. Baltimore has a tremendous opportunity to flip its momentum in another series with playoff implications. The O’s start the first of three in Toronto tonight with Kyle Bradish on the mound. Ryan McKenna will get the start in center field against lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Anthony Santander will play right field after a change in the outfielder’s vaccination status. Santander missed a previous trip to Toronto this season, but he and Keegan Akin are now vaccinated. Ryan Mountcastle still has some swelling in his hand but will start at first base. He’s joined in the infield by Terrin Vavra, Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías. Austin Hays will take left field and Adley Rutschman will be behind the plate. Tyler Nevin will start as the designated hitter against Kikuchi. Bradish allowed three runs and worked into the sixth inning in his last start against the Jays. His inflated ERA has dropped after all three starts since returning from the injured list. Orioles lineup: Ryan McKenna CF Adley Rutschman C Anthony Santander RF Ryan Mountcastle 1B Ramón Urías 3B Austin Hays LF Jorge Mateo SS Terrin Vavra 2B Tyler Nevin DH Starter: RHP Kyle Bradish Blue Jays lineup: George Springer DH Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF Teoscar Hernández RF Bo Bichette SS Matt Chapman 3B Raimel Tapia CF Whit Merrifield 2B Danny Jansen C Starter: LHP Yusei Kikuchi

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