BALTIMORE – Muscle memory took over for Anthony Santander at Camden Yards Saturday afternoon.
Long before first pitch he had to pick up a delivery, so he walked along the ballpark’s service level toward the right field line, where he’d always gone as an Orioles player. But realizing he was now a visitor at the ballpark he’d called home for the last eight years, he turned around and headed to the appropriate entrance then back to the Blue Jays’ clubhouse.
“Kind of weird,” he acknowledged. “(But) it feels great coming back to the city.”
What happened later was far more familiar for the crowd of 22,130 at Camden Yards as Santander hit a no-doubt home run over the right field wall – his first as a Blue Jay – to give his new team a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Ultimately, that lead would be short-lived though as the Orioles rallied against Toronto starter Bowden Francis and put together a 5-4 win over Santander and his new team.
Santander acknowledged the crowd’s ovations multiple times, ahead of his first at bat as a Blue Jay and later after a video montage celebrating his time in Baltimore played on the centre field scoreboard. Many fans were less impressed after his home run, but there were still plenty of cheers for Santander, who hit 155 career home runs with the Orioles.
Before the game, a cold weather contest in which the Orioles wore full orange uniforms and the Blue Jays wore baby blue, manager John Schneider expressed optimism that Santander was about to break out of his early season slump. Soon afterwards, another coach predicted the switch hitter would homer Saturday.
“You trust that he’s going to he’s going to get going,” Schneider said. “The last four or five days he’s hit the ball harder, and once he gets those in the air you’re going to see him click. He’s really close, and hopefully being back here in the confines of Camden Yards get some going a little bit.”
But one home run wasn’t enough on a day the Blue Jays’ offence slowed down late, and they now rank 29th among the 30 MLB teams with just seven total homers this season. Clearly, they need more power to improve on their 8-7 record, and while history tells us the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette will provide plenty of home runs, the sooner that happens, the better.
On Saturday, Guerrero Jr. made a costly baserunning mistake, leaving first base early on a Santander fly ball and running into a double play as a result. Those little things can prove costly in any game, but especially when the Blue Jays aren’t hitting for enough power to create any real breathing room.
As for Francis, the right-hander took a perfect game into the fifth inning before allowing a Heston Kjerstad home run for his first hit of the day. Adley Rutschman added a home run of his own in the sixth, an inning that spiralled for Francis when Cedric Mullins doubled to left centre field and two runners scored.
Still, there were plenty of positives to be found for Francis on Saturday. The Orioles are a legitimately tough offence and his splitter continued to look like a difference-making pitch, leading to two strikeouts of leadoff hitter Gunnar Henderson.
“It just gives his fastball more deception, and then he’s been locating his fastball,” Schneider said. “It puts a little bit of doubt into hitters’ heads. He’s always had a very deceptive fastball with his delivery. And I think just having another pitch that tunnels off of that has been really good for him.”
In the end, though, it wasn’t enough to hold off the Orioles offence, and the Blue Jays had few answers beyond Santander’s early homer. Now they hand the ball to Jose Berrios Sunday in the hopes of ending this three-city road trip 4-5 rather than 3-6.
