Tyler Heineman hit his second career home run, Chris Bassitt pitched a resourceful six innings and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Baltimore Orioles 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. George Springer had two RBIs to help give the Blue Jays a split in the season-opening four game series. The Orioles were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Bassitt’s wild pitch scored Ryan O’Hearn from third in the first inning. O’Hearn singled with two out and slid into third in a close play on Tyler O’Neill’s single to left. Baltimore starter Tomoyuki Sugano, making his major league debut after a distinguished career in Japan, consistently fell behind in the count in the early innings. He walked Bo Bichette on four pitches to open the home first. Andres Gimenez hit a two-out double and Springer lined a two-run single to center. Sugano allowed two runs, four hits and two walks with one strikeout in four innings before leaving with apparent hand cramps. He made one warmup pitch prior to the fifth before a trainer was summoned to the mound. Matt Bowman took over after being promoted from Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday with Albert Suarez (shoulder inflammation) going on injured list. Bassitt escaped jams through his six innings using seven strikeouts and did not have a clean inning in allowing one run, eight hits and two walks. The Orioles had two runners on base in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings. Brendon Little replaced Bassitt and pitched a perfect seventh. Heineman led off the home seventh with a home run to left field off Cionel Perez. It was his first major league home run since 2019 when he was with the Miami Marlins. Toronto reliever Yariel Rodriguez pitched around an eighth-inning single with two strikeouts. Jeff Hoffman, an offseason free-agent signing, pitched a clean ninth with two strikeouts to earn his first save as a Blue Jay. Toronto’s Max Scherzer (thumb inflammation), who left his start on Saturday after three innings was put on injured reserve. Left-handers Mason Fluharty and Easton Lucas were promoted. Left-hander Richard Lovelady was designated for assignment. –Field Level Media
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