BIRD BATH: Blue Jays score 22 runs to finish off record-shattering weekend against Orioles – Toronto Sun

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Turns out there was a lopsided laugher in the Blue Jays visit to Baltimore after all.

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And an embarrassment to all things Orioles, really.

Inning by inning, at-bat, by at-bat, the Jays shattered all sorts of franchise records on Sunday, rolling to a humiliating 22-7 win over the overmatched O’s.

The punch-out to follow a pair of late-inning explosions in a doubleheader sweep on Saturday allowed the Jays to take three of four from the last-place O’s and cap off a sizzling 7-1 road trip that included a four-game sweep at Yankee Stadium.

A September to remember? The Jays are 11-1 in the month thus far, making their longest sustained run of the season at the precise time it was needed most. And with the White Sox walking off the Red Sox, the Jays find themselves with a share of the top American League wild-card spot.

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Wildness all around, it turns out.

Playing their most explosive offensive baseball of the season — which is saying something — the Jays return to Toronto for a six-game homestand on Monday in possession of an American League playoff spot.

With 44 runs in their past three games, the Jays improved to 80-63, more games above .500 than they were at the end of the 2016 season.

And they are certainly sending a loud message to the competition after churning up massive ground in the playoff race over the past two weeks.

“I think we’re putting pressure on everyone else,” said Sunday’s starter, Steven Matz said. “That’s what we want — the pressure to be on them. They know within one inning we can score 10 runs and that’s a pretty special thing.

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“(The offence) is pretty indescribable. It speaks for itself. It’s insane.”

On Sunday, the Jays started the game with a single, a pair of walks, a hit batter and a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grand slam. Before Orioles starter Zac Lowther had even recorded an out, the Jays were up 5-0.

And then it got much uglier for the home side.

The Jays scored another run in the second — on Vlad Guerrero’s 44th homer of the season — and put up a 10-spot in the third. Essentially, they turned plate appearances into extended batting practice in a game in which they belted five more homers, including another grand slam from Teoscar Hernandez.

The hits — and the records — just kept on coming as we attempt to recap here:

• Let’s start with the wild-haired outfielder Gurriel, whose two-homer game was his fourth of the season, making him the first Jays hitter to do so. 
• Gurriel’s seven RBIs, five runs scored and three walks on the day were all career-highs. His fifth-inning bomb travelled 460 feet, making it the longest of his career.
• The 47 runs the Jays scored were the most they’ve ever put up in a four-game series, topping the 42 set against the Orioles way back in 1978.
• The 16 runs in the first three innings were the most in club history. And with the 11 they put up in the seventh inning on Saturday night, the 27 they scored in a four-inning span were the most in MLB history.It was also just the third time in club history that the Jays topped 20 runs in a game.
• The slam-fest from Hernandez and Gurriel marked the first time two Jays hitters have cleared loaded bases with a homer in one game.
• With five homers on Sunday, the Jays hit 13 in two days, boosting their MLB lead to 230. They have hit five for more homers in a game seven times this season.

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A one-sided contest from the outset, the Jays took advantage of an Orioles lineup headed for a potential 110-loss season as it drags down the bottom of the AL East standings. And the barrage picked up where the team left off on Saturday night when they scored 11 runs in the seventh (the final inning of the second half of the doubleheader) to record an 11-2 win.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in back-to-back days and I’ve been in the game for 35 years,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “To score 22 … that’s impressive.

“I knew in August we were going to get hot because we’ve got too many good hitters.”

Runs aren’t likely to come so generously when they face the division-leading Rays on Monday at the Rogers Centre, but the dominating road trip has set them up for a serious push towards the playoffs.

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SEASON OF VLAD

Guerrero’s second-inning homer continued his push for one of the most productive slugging seasons in franchise history.

Now at 44, the 22-year-old is tied with Carlos Delgado (1999) for the fourth-highest homer today in a season in club history. It also matched the career-high of his Hall of Fame father Vlad Sr. hit for the Montreal Expos in 2000.

Next on the list for Guerrero is Jose Canseco, who hit 46 in 1998. The club record belongs to Jose Bautista, who clubbed 54 in 2010.

Sunday’s homer pulled Guerrero into a tie with the Angels Shohei Ohtani for the AL lead. It was also his 10th against the Orioles, the most a Jays hitter has hit against one team in a season.

AROUND THE BASES

After playing both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader — including his dramatic game-winning homer in the first — George Springer was given the day off to rest his sore knee. Wise move from management given the value a healthy Springer could be during the stretch run and beyond … The blowout allowed the Jays to make a number of late-game substitutions. “It worked out great because we’ve been playing so many games in a row,” Montoyo said … The Hernandez grand slam was just the second of his career and the outfielder scored four runs on the day, a career-high.