Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit the winning run in the ninth inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Wednesday night. Justin Turner got a single off Craig Kimbrel (0-2) to start the ninth, his third hit of the game.
Cavan Biggio ran for Turner and moved to second base when Kimbrel made an errant throw to pick him off. He then went to third on a flyball and scored on Kiner-Falefa’s hit to right field.
“It was a really special moment for me, my first big moment as a Blue Jay,” Kiner-Falefa said. Kiner-Falefa had two hits and two RBIs as Toronto won with a walk-off for the second time this season and the second time in this series.
“It feels good to come out with a win,” Kiner-Falefa said. “Hopefully, this gives us some momentum to keep going strong.” The Blue Jays beat Pittsburgh 5-3 in 14 innings last Friday, ending with a home run by Davis Schneider.
Kimbrel hadn’t allowed a run since May 8 against Washington but was disappointed by his mistake. “I threw it away and made it easier for them,” Kimbrel said. The Orioles have won 6 of 9 one-run games.
Toronto bounced back after losing the first two games of the series by a total score of 17-3. “It feels good to move on from the last two,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
Yimi García (2-0) struck out two batters in one inning to get the win as the Blue Jays secured their 11th comeback victory. “Yimi García might be the best reliever in the game right now,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.
Anthony Santander hit his 12th homer of the season for the Orioles, scoring with a leadoff homer in the second inning. The drive came off Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos.
Later in the inning, Ramón Urías drove in Cedric Mullins with a two-out double. “Berríos is a tough starter,” Hyde said. “It was nice to get a couple of runs off him early. We just couldn’t get anything going after that.”
Toronto tied the score in the bottom half. George Springer got a leadoff walk, moved to third on Turner’s double, and scored on Alejandro Kirk’s sacrifice fly. Kiner-Falefa then hit an RBI single.