The Blue Jays outhit the Orioles Monday, 12-9. But of course that does not win you the ballgame. Four of the Orioles' nine hits were homers and thus they finished ahead in runs scored, 7-4. It simply continues to be a remarkable ride for the team from Camden Yards. They are five games over .500, just a game out of Wild Card position and have won six of seven overall.

Baltimore clearly is no longer a pushover, the team that lost 108+ games in the last three non-COVID shortened seasons. But I don’t like today’s starting pitching matchup from their perspective.

Alek Manoah has a 2.45 ERA and 0.992 WHIP for Toronto. He’s 12-5 and the team is 13-8 in his 21 starts. Manoah tossed six scoreless innings of one-hit ball when he faced the Orioles back on June 13th. He is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in four career starts against them.

Toronto may be only 5-5 over its last 10 games. But they are still three games ahead of Baltimore, have the starting pitching edge and the higher scoring offense. They’re also 30-18 off a loss this season.

For Baltimore, Kyle Bradish has a 6.55 ERA and 1.651 WHIP. The numbers are even worse at home. Despite having made 12 starts, Bradish has just one win in 2022. He faced Manoah back on 6/13, gave up five runs in 4 ⅓ innings and the Orioles lost 11-1. 10*