O'Neill's three-run homer caps huge second inning as Orioles top Blue Jays
Published
SARASOTA - Canadian outfielder Tyler O'Neill hit a three-run homer as part of Baltimore's seven-run second inning as the Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-8 in spring training action Thursday.
O'Neill, from Maple Ridge, B.C., put the Orioles up 7-0 when he homered with two outs and Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins on base.
O'Neill signed a three-year, US$49.5 million contract with Baltimore in December after hitting 31 homers with the Boston Red Sox last season.
It was Baltimore's second home run of the inning after Ramón Urías's two-run shot put the Orioles up 3-0.
Baltimore's other runs came from a Ramón Laureano RBI double and a Mullins run-scoring single.
The Orioles added two runs in the sixth on a Jeremiah Jackson RBI single and a Luis Vazquez sacrifice fly. Samuel Basallo thumped Baltimore's third homer of the day with a solo shot in the seventh inning and Vazquez drove in another run with a single in the eighth.
The Blue Jays scored three runs in the ninth on a Charles McAdoo homer to make the score look respectable.
Toronto scored four runs in the fourth as Orelvis Martinez and Myles Straw hit back-to-back two-run singles. Raniner Nunez scored on a throwing error in the eighth.
Toronto starter Easton Lucas gave up the first three runs and was pulled after the Jays recorded their second out of the inning.
He was replaced by Andrew Bash who was immediately charged with a walk and a hit batter before Mullins' single and O'Neill's homer cleared the bases.
The Blue Jays (3-2) host the Detroit Tigers on Friday afternoon in Dunedin, Fla.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2025.