TORONTO — Jordan Lyles was one pitch away from getting out of the fifth inning unscathed. Instead, the full-count curveball left the bat of Toronto Blue Jays star George Springer in a hurry, sailed over the outfield fence and brought the Rogers Centre crowd to its feet, creating the kind of noise few Orioles players have experienced thus far in their careers.
That it was a three-run homer had plenty to do with the surge of energy. But the implications attached to this series in Toronto had even more to do with it.
Here they are, the Blue Jays and the Orioles, battling for postseason positioning in mid-September. One team expected to be here; the other far more of a surprise. And the first game of this critical series Friday night went the way of Toronto, 6-3, moving it six games ahead of Baltimore in the American League wild-card race.
