Orioles’ bullpen melts down in 9th in 10-7 loss to Blue Jays; Mountcastle homers 3 times, Mullins twice

The Orioles hit six home runs, had two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning, and managed to lose by three runs.

In a startling meltdown, Paul Fry and Tyler Wells allowed six runs in the ninth inning in a stunning 10-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before 10,721 at Oriole Park on Saturday.

The Orioles took a 7-4 lead to the ninth. Paul Fry walked Cavan Biggio and  got Joe Panik to fly out for the first out. Santiago Espinal and Lourdes Gurriel singled, and Fry (0-2) struck out Riley Adams. Marcus Semien walked, and Biggio scored, and it was 7-5.

Tyler Wells relieved Fry and after a nine-pitch at-bat, Bo Bichette blooped a single to right that Anthony Santander couldn’t field. Espinal and Gurriel scored, and it was 7-7.

“Give Bichette credit for an amazing at-bat,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He put the ball in play on a tough slider down and away after a bunch of foul balls, just a little bit out of our reach there to tie the game.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled to scored Semien and Bichette, and Randal Grichuk’s double scored Guerrero, and the amazing Toronto (34-35) comeback was complete.

“It seemed it took a little bit of air out of the balloon for Wellsy,” Hyde said. “He hung a couple pitchers right after that. It was a tough inning.”

Jordan Romano (4-1) pitched two innings for the win.

It was the first time the Orioles (23-47) hit six home runs in a game since August 18, 2016.

Ryan Mountcastle hit three home runs, Cedric Mullins had his second straight multi-home run game, and DJ Stewart added another.

With one out and one on in the fourth, Mountcastle hit his second home run of the game, a two-run homer for a 3-2 lead.  Stewart followed with his seventh home run, and Toronto starter Alek Manoah fired a pitch at Maikel Franco’s shoulder, and after he hit Franco, both benches and bullpens emptied.

There were no punches, but Hyde and Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo were jawing at each other.

Hyde said little about the incident but did say he believed that Manoah was throwing at Franco.

“We were getting our team back, and there was something that I didn’t appreciate, so that’s what happened,” Hyde said. “We calmed down and went back to the dugout.”

Guerrero pulled Freddy Galvis away from the scrum, and order was quickly restored.

The umpires ejected Manoah, who gave up four home runs.

The day didn’t start out well for Orioles starter Dean Kremer. He allowed a leadoff home run to Semien, his 17^th of the season, and two batters later, Guerrero powered his 23^rd.

Mountcastle hit a one-out home run against Manoah in the second, and Mullins a two-out homer in the third for a 2-2 tie.

Kremer didn’t allow a hit after the first inning and gave up two runs on three hits in six innings, walking three and striking out six.

Mountcastle hit his third home run with one out in the sixth against Anthony Kay, and the Orioles had a 6-2 lead.

“Today, I was seeing the ball well,” Mountcastle said. “I felt like I was on everything. It didn’t end the way  we wanted it to, but we’ve got to keep moving forward and playing hard.”

It was the first three home run game by an Oriole since Pedro Severino’s on June 4, 2019.

Tanner Scott came in and walked Panik to start the seventh. Santiago Espina singled, and Gurriel hit a shot to second baseman Stevie Wilkerson that he flipped to Galvis for a double play as Panik scored.

Mullins hit his 13^th home run with two outs in the seventh, and the Orioles led 7-3. It was the first time the Orioles hit six home runs in a game since August 16, 2016.

Semien hit his second home run of the game, and his 17^th on Hunter Harvey’s first pitch in the eighth, and the Orioles led 7-4.

Mountcastle had a single in the eighth for his fourth hit of the game.

Notes: Hyde said that John Means, who’s been on the 10-day injured list since June5 with a strained left shoulder is likely to return around the All-Star break. …Matt Harvey (3-8, 7.76) and Hyun Jin Ryu (5-4, 3.43) are Sunday’s scheduled pitchers. …Mountcastle was the second Orioles rookie with a two homer game. Nick Markakis was the last on August 22, 2006. …The Orioles’ first six hits were home runs. That’s the first time a team had done that since Cleveland on June 24, 1989 at Texas.