TORONTO — Maybe it’s the maple syrup or the Tim Hortons on every corner. Perhaps he loves poutine or Canada Dry ginger ale.
He claims there’s nothing special about this place. But Ryan Mountcastle clearly feels at home in Toronto. Mountcastle — briefly listed on his Wikipedia page as the current owner of the Toronto Blue Jays — has had years of success up north.
“I don’t think so,” he said when asked if this city is a good luck charm. “Sometimes it just happens.”
Mountcastle went 11-for-13 in a four-game series at Rogers Centre last August, the last time the Orioles traveled here. His 0-for-5 game Monday night was surprising. His two-homer, five-RBI performance Tuesday in the Orioles’ 10-1 win over the Blue Jays was not. He’s played just 24 of his 493 major league games at Rogers Centre, yet he’s hit 9% of his career home runs in this ballpark.
“I think he loves to hit here,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Whenever you have positive moments somewhere, it feels good to be in that spot.”
His first home run of the night came in the third, with Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman on base. Mountcastle sent this one to left field, giving the Orioles a 4-0 lead to erase the drama that happened earlier in the inning, when James McCann was called out on an iffy interference call.
Mountcastle’s second home run came in the fifth, this one a two-run homer, a no-doubter 443 feet up to the party deck. It was his 10th of the season, joining Anthony Santander, Henderson and Rutschman in the 10-homer club.
“Whenever you hit one off the bat and know it’s gone is a good feeling,” Mountcastle said. “To put one out there was pretty cool.”
Although Connor Norby doesn’t have the same history with Rogers Centre as Mountcastle does, this stadium will be etched in his memory as well. Norby, called up Monday for his major league debut, was 0-for-6 to start his career, but with each at-bat he started to feel more comfortable, he said.
When he stepped up in the seventh, Norby, searching for that first hit, sent an 86.1 mph slider into the left field stands for not only his first hit but also first home run and first RBI, all in one swing. He said the only thing going through his mind was to make sure he touched every base. He plans to give the ball to his parents because, he said, he would probably lose it.
“Unreal,” Norby said. “That was the coolest thing I’ve done playing baseball for sure. I got a lot of sleep last night, but I don’t know how much I’ll get tonight after that one.”
Meanwhile, Corbin Burnes busted out seven innings of one-run ball. The last time he pitched against the Blue Jays on May 13, he struck out just two as Toronto made it a part of its game plan to make contact or stay patient with two strikes.
This time, Burnes attacked the Blue Jays more, getting five strikeouts while still forcing Toronto to make weak contact. Burnes gave up just one run, a solo homer by George Springer with two outs in the seventh. Hyde came out to the mound after, in most cases a sign the pitcher is done for the day, but the manager retreated to the dugout alone, leaving Burnes in. He finished the seventh inning for the third time this season.
“We had to get creative tonight because they were super aggressive early on,” Burnes said. “Had to adjust a little bit, make sure we were making good pitches early on to get the quick outs. When we got to two, it was the same guys we were facing last time. They are really protective with two strikes and want to put the ball into play, so we started to get creative and it worked and turned things back in our favor.”
