Finishing with a flourish: O's sweep Jays after 5-run 11th

TORONTO -- It took 11 innings and a village, but the Orioles completed the sweep.

Baltimore’s 8-3 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon was a lot narrower than the final score may indicate, and it went down as one of the purest illustrations of “full team effort” you’ll see in baseball.

“I emptied the whole bench, we used every pitcher we had available,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. “So to get a sweep on the road is huge.”

The path toward a decisive five-run 11th inning was long and winding for the Orioles, who staged a truncated contest with scarce scoring chances en route to their first three-game sweep of Toronto since August 2018.

As starters Dean Kremer and Kevin Gausman led the way in a pitchers’ duel, Baltimore’s bullpen proved to be a difference-maker, allowing the offense to finally shine on the other side late in the game.

Cedric Mullins was the hands-down protagonist.

Mullins’ two-run double in the 11th to make it 8-3 handed him a five-hit game for the third time in his career. The outfielder, who also played stellar defense throughout the series, collected at least one hit in each of the three games north of the border, and he finished the set with four RBIs in the three games.

“He’s just playing an unbelievable brand of baseball right now on both sides,” Hyde said of Mullins. “He’s a Gold Glove defender and he’s just hitting rockets all over the field, getting huge hits for us, driving in runs, just doing everything.”

But the final win required a lot more than Mullins’ heroics.

All of the Orioles’ 13 position players made their way into the game, including Terrin Vavra, who pinch-hit for James McCann in the 11th and turned on a first-pitch fastball from Yimi García for a two-run single that extended Baltimore’s advantage.

Austin Hays sparked that final rally, lining a single to plate Ryan McKenna, giving his team the lead while collecting his third hit of the game in the process.

“Especially in this division, games are hard-fought,” said Vavra. “It takes everybody in the clubhouse to get a win, and today was just a prime example of that.”

While it took the hitters a bit to come through, the bullpen shined from the jump.

After Kremer exited a one-run start in which he struck out a career-high-tying seven batters over 5 1/3 innings, Baltimore’s relief arms held the Blue Jays to just two runs in the remaining 5 2/3 frames -- and they did it without Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano, who were unavailable on Sunday.

The Orioles got particularly big contributions from Austin Voth and Mike Baumann, who pitched 1 1/3 and 1 2/3 innings of sky-high leverage relief late in the game.

“Incredible effort, really, by everybody,” Hyde said of his relievers.

Pitching brilliance paired well with elite defense, as Baltimore turned some key plays in big spots. The headliner came in the sixth inning when Cionel Pérez got Kevin Kiermaier to hit a ground ball with the bases loaded for a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play to keep the Orioles ahead by one.

“I think that's what makes this team special,” said Mullins of the all-around performance. “Just continuing to be prepared when that opportunity arrives. … It's just a matter of continuing to stay focused, stay locked in, take advantage of the opportunity.”

Baltimore earned its third sweep of the season, and it improved to 12-7 in May, a month that was viewed as a challenge from the start. Five of the Orioles’ six opponents so far this month are above .500, with the Yankees, Rangers and Guardians to follow.

Hyde made it clear that this team isn’t looking to make any sort of statement in the current stretch, but rather focus on winning the series and staying competitive in an extremely difficult American League East. Still, as the O’s get a welcome off-day on Monday before taking on the Yankees in New York, they’ve found value in appreciating their accomplishments this weekend.

“In order to sweep, a lot of things have to go your way,” said Mullins. “The AL East is also a difficult division. So [the way] we fought today just kind of shows where we are as a team, and we’ll continue to go from there.”