Monday June 20 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 2-5
Streak: L2
Record: 18-50
Rank: 7th

GB: 23.5

The Birds arrived in Toronto for a four game series against the Blue Jays, the only team that they hadn't played yet this season.  The Blue Jays had won 96 games and finished second to Detroit in the AL East the previous year (with the season coming down to a showdown between the Tigers and Blue Jays the last weekend of the season) but coming into this evening's game they were in sixth place, 9 games behind the first place Yankees, with a record of 33-36.

But they looked pretty good tonight as they got on the board early against Mike Boddicker.  In the bottom of the first.  Lloyd Moseby singled with one out and came into score on Rance Mulliniks' double.  Mulliniks then scored on George Bell's single.  Fred McGriff followed with a double and Bell scored on Kelly Gruber's ground out.

Cal Ripken almost single handedly got the Orioles close.  He hit his 11th home run of the season (a solo shot) in the third and had an RBI double in the fifth, knocking in his brother with the Birds' second run.  (I'm scratching my head looking at Baseball Reference's Play-By-Play account of that inning.  Bill Ripken and Joe Orsulak were on third and second respectively when Cal hit the double - why didn't Orsulak score from second?)  But McGriff hit a two run homer in the bottom of the seventh to put the Blue Jays up by three again.