Adley Rutschman hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Baltimore Orioles a 3-2 victory against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon.

Bo Bichette smacked a two-run double in the third inning for the Blue Jays and it looked like those would be enough as Baltimore’s offense stalled.

After Monday’s 10-inning triumph to open the series and Tuesday’s rainout, the Blue Jays were trying to be the first American League East team to win a series against the Orioles in the last 17 matchups. Instead, it was a split.

Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi allowed one run on six hits and one walk and struck out nine in 4 1/3 innings. Four relievers shut down the Orioles on three hits through the eighth.

In the ninth, Jordan Westburg led off with an infield single against Jordan Romano (1-1) and Rutschman drilled his ninth homer of the season and third of the series.

Danny Coulombe (1-0) worked around a one-out double in the ninth to earn the win.

Westburg’s first-inning home run gave Baltimore the early lead.

The Orioles had runners at second and third with no outs in the seventh after Austin Hays doubled. Reliever Genesis Cabrera struck out Westburg and then issued an intentional walk to Rustchman before Ryan Mountcastle fouled out and Gunnar Henderson grounded out.

Orioles starter Kyle Bradish lasted four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Westburg’s seventh homer of the season opened the scoring on the fourth pitch of the day from Kikuchi.

Bichette’s two-run double put the Blue Jays on top 2-1. Three of Toronto’s five hits came in the inning.

Both teams squandered scoring chances. The Blue Jays had four hits and six walks through seven innings.

Baltimore had runners at second and third with one out in the fourth following singles by Anthony Santander and Colton Cowser and a passed ball. But Kikuchi registered a pair of strikeouts to escape the jam.

Until Kevin Kiermaier’s double in the ninth, Toronto didn’t have a hit after Bichette’s run-producing double, though it loaded the bases using three walks in the fifth.

With Tuesday night’s rainout, the Blue Jays altered their rotation and had Kikuchi on the mound instead of Chris Bassitt. Both teams are off Thursday.

–Field Level Media