J.P. Arencibia’s grand slam lifts Toronto Blue Jays to 8-4 win over Baltimore Orioles – MLB Update
J.P. Arencibia hit his ninth homer of the season on Friday, June 3 with an exquisite addition of his first career grand slam to enable Toronto Blue Jays to effortlessly beat Baltimore Orioles 8-4 in the first encounter of the three-game series in Oriole
Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore.
Arencibia’s grand slam came in the fifth inning, translating into a sheer disaster for the Orioles and removed all the obstacles to rout them.
"He's been extremely productive against left-handers and that was the case again tonight," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said of Arencibia. "He's done an excellent job at the plate and behind the plate, and tonight he had a very good game all-around."
Zach Britton failed to keep in check the Blue Jays’ offence, as each hitter went against Baltimore’s pitchers with zeal.
Britton gave up three hits in the very first inning and allowed two runs which brought the Orioles under pressure since the beginning. Aaron Hill and Rajai Davis each scored a single to add up to the Blue Jays’ lead.
Juan Rivera tripled the score in the third inning while the Orioles were yet to open their account. It was Carlos Villanueva who, unlike Britton, was in full swing with his unplayable pitches.
Arencibia then hit his first brilliant grand slam of his career in the fifth inning to effectively bring the game in their hands, as the total piled up to 7-0.
“It's one of those things you don't really think about," Arencibia said. "I don't remember the last time I hit a grand slam in baseball. It was just one of those things. If I say I was trying to hit a grand slam, I'd be a liar. I just hit the ball and it
was able to go out and we had three guys on base.”
Robert Andino opened the account for the Orioles in the fifth inning with a single while Adam Jones made the second in the same inning. Yunel Escobar scored a decent single for the Blue Jays, raising the total to 8-2 which was too big a lead to be reversed.
J.J. Hardy put his last effort with his two-run homer in the eighth inning for the Blue Jays making it 8-4, but Marc Rzepczynski pitched a shut-out ninth inning to seal the victory for Toronto.
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