Orioles hit 4 homers in 7-4 victory over Blue Jays

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming weeks.

On Monday night, Ramón Urías and the upstart Orioles measured up fine.

Urías hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays also went deep to lift Baltimore to a 7-4 victory over the Blue Jays.

The Orioles, who entered the day two games behind Seattle and Tampa Bay for the final two wild cards in the American League, pulled within three of Toronto for the first wild card. This was the first of 15 meetings down the stretch between the Blue Jays and Orioles.

“I don’t know if it’s a statement. I think that we swung the bats really well,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “Nice to see us hit some homers. I feel like it’s been a little bit since we’ve had a game like that offensively.”

Baltimore starter Jordan Lyles (9-8) allowed a third-inning homer by Cavan Biggio, but the Orioles responded in their half of that inning with back-to-back solo shots by Santander and Mountcastle to make it 5-1.

Matt Chapman hit a solo homer for Toronto in the sixth, but Hays answered with one of his own in the bottom half.

The Blue Jays scored twice in the eighth, but Félix Bautista came on and retired Whit Merrifield on a two-out grounder with two on. Mountcastle’s RBI single made it 7-4.

The first two Toronto batters of the ninth reached on an error and a single against Bautista. Then the big right-hander struck out Teoscar Hernández and got Bo Bichette to bounce into a double play to secure his fifth save.

Yusei Kikuchi (4-6) allowed five runs and six hits in five-plus innings for the Blue Jays.

“Just a tough way to start today, I think, in the first inning,” manager John Schneider said. “With the three-run homer, kind of putting yourself in a hole a little bit.”

Lyles yielded two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

“We obviously know how good and talented they are — one of the better offenses in baseball,” Lyles said. “We know we’re getting into a good stretch of quality opponents. We’ve been playing ball well. Just another series, another Monday night.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 19 games, the longest in the AL this year.

Baltimore has won six of seven.

WITH THE GLOVES: In addition to their double play in the ninth, the Orioles also turned one in the fifth with men on first and third and one out.

“That’s not talked about enough, honestly, is how well we’re playing defense,” Hyde said. “Those double plays did not get turned the last few years. Those are big moments, get some guys out of a jam.”

Judge hits No. 44, Yankees beat Mariners 9-4 to stop skid

SEATTLE (AP) — On a night when the Yankees ended their losing streak and Aaron Judge homered yet again, it wasn’t all good news for New York.

Judge hit his 44th homer, Josh Donaldson went deep and drove in three runs, and the Yankees snapped a five-game skid by beating the Seattle Mariners 9-4 on Monday.

Donaldson doubled twice and Andrew Benintendi also had two doubles and three RBIs as the Yankees hammered Seattle pitching. But they got a bad break early — Matt Carpenter fractured his left foot when he fouled off a pitch in the first inning.

“I have no doubt in my mind that he’s going to still make an impact on this team even while he’s hurt,” said Yankees starter Jameson Taillon, who threw seven innings to get the win. “He’s come in here right away and made an impact on a lot of people. He’s not afraid to talk pitching with the pitchers. He’s not afraid to give honest feedback. He’s one of the best guys that I’ve been around and played with, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his way back and makes an impact.”

Carpenter, who was in a walking boot after the game, said there’s no timeframe yet for a possible return and he would first need to see a foot specialist. Carpenter began the night hitting .307 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs in just 127 at-bats.

“My mindset is that this won’t be the end for me here this year. I’m hopeful that I can come back and contribute,” he said.

Even without Carpenter, the Yankees had plenty of punch to stop their longest losing streak of the season.

Donaldson and Benintendi got it started as New York knocked around Logan Gilbert for seven earned runs and 10 hits — six for extra bases.

That was plenty for Taillon (11-2), who scattered three hits over seven innings.