Top prospect Jackson Holliday hit a fifth-inning grand slam for his first career home run in his first game back in the major leagues as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 10-4 on Wednesday afternoon.
Holliday, who had only two hits in 34 at-bats in a spring promotion, returned from Triple-A Norfolk. He was 0-for-2 on Wednesday before extending Baltimore’s 4-3 lead with the long ball off reliever Yerry Rodriguez.
Colton Cowser also homered and Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson each had two hits with RBI singles for the Orioles, who won three of four games in the series and finished the homestand with a 4-3 record. Baltimore has won four of five games overall.
Grayson Rodriguez (13-4) pitched six innings for the victory, allowing four runs (three earned) and six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Rookie Addison Barger homered and produced a run-scoring double for the Blue Jays. Paolo Espino (0-1), in his third outing of the season, took the loss by giving up four runs in four innings.
Holliday, playing second base and batting in the No. 8 spot in Baltimore’s order, finished 1-for-5 with one strikeout in his first game with Baltimore since April 23. His homer to right field sailed out of the ballpark and onto Eutaw Street.
Ryan Mountcastle opened the scoring with a two-run triple in the first inning. It was 3-0 after Cowser’s 16th homer of the season came with two outs in the second inning, extending his hitting streak to 13 games.
Barger homered for the second time in the series in the third inning, marking the second homer of his career.
After Barger’s double in the fourth, the Blue Jays scored again on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s groundout in the fifth.
George Springer joined Barger with two hits for Toronto. Left fielder Joey Loperfido, who arrived in a trade from the Houston Astros, went 1-for-5 in his debut with the Blue Jays.