TORONTO (Interstat) — The Toronto Blue Jays used a pair of early home runs and a steady bullpen to beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3 on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 12, 2026, at Rogers Centre. Toronto improved to 74-75 and moved within one game of the Cleveland Guardians for the final American League wild-card spot. Baltimore fell to 72-77 and dropped two games behind the Blue Jays in that race. Spencer Arrighetti was credited with the win, improving to 8-9. Kyle Bradish took the loss, falling to 7-14. The game drew 41,949 and took 2 hours, 55 minutes.

Toronto jumped ahead in the first inning. Brett Bateman walked, George Springer grounded out to move him to second, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled on a sharp line drive to right field to score Bateman. Alejandro Kirk followed with a single to right, scoring Guerrero. Nathan Lukes then grounded into a double play to end the inning. Baltimore threatened in the top of the first when Pete Alonso walked, Coby Mayo singled and Gunnar Henderson walked to load the bases, but Christian Encarnacion-Strand flew out sharply to right fielder Nathan Lukes.

The Orioles’ best early chance came and went. Dylan Beavers struck out, Alonso walked, Jackson Holliday struck out swinging, Mayo singled and Henderson walked, but Encarnacion-Strand could not deliver. Bradish worked around trouble in the second. Kazuma Okamoto walked, Josh Smith struck out on a foul tip, and Andrés Giménez singled, but Rudy Martin Jr. grounded into a double play from Bradish to Henderson to Alonso. Toronto grounded into two double plays overall.

Toronto broke the game open in the third. Bateman homered to right-center field. Springer singled sharply to left, and after Guerrero struck out swinging, Kirk homered to left-center field, scoring Springer. Okamoto and Smith added singles later in the inning, but Baltimore escaped further damage. The Blue Jays led 5-0 after three innings. Baltimore scored in the fourth when Henderson doubled and Encarnacion-Strand reached on a fielding error by Okamoto, with Henderson scoring and Encarnacion-Strand taking second on the throwing error. Heston Kjerstad struck out, and Colton Cowser singled, but Encarnacion-Strand was thrown out at home by Lukes, with Kirk applying the tag.

The middle innings belonged mostly to the pitchers. Toronto’s bullpen kept Baltimore off the scoreboard for long stretches, and Baltimore’s relievers prevented Toronto from pulling away. Baltimore pitchers combined for 20 strikes, 48 balls and 20 balls in play. Toronto pitchers combined for 19 strikes, 43 balls and 19 balls in play. The Blue Jays carried a five-run lead into the sixth.

Toronto added a run in the sixth. Okamoto flew out to center, Smith was hit by a pitch, and Giménez doubled to right field to score Smith. Martin Jr. walked, Bateman struck out swinging, and Springer singled softly to third. Giménez tried to score but was thrown out at home on the play from Encarnacion-Strand to Henderson, with the call upheld after a Toronto challenge. The Blue Jays led 6-1.

Baltimore answered in the seventh. Yohel Pozo singled to left, Beavers struck out swinging, and Alonso homered to left field, scoring Pozo. It was Alonso’s 35th home run of the season and cut Toronto’s lead to 6-3. Toronto got the run back in the bottom half. Guerrero was hit by a pitch, Kirk flew out to center, Lukes singled to left to move Guerrero to third, and Okamoto walked to load the bases. Ernie Clement followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Guerrero. Giménez struck out swinging to end the inning.

The late innings produced little offense. Henderson grounded out, Encarnacion-Strand grounded out and Jeremiah Jackson was called out on strikes in the eighth for Baltimore. Myles Straw walked for Toronto in the bottom half, but Bateman struck out, Springer flew out to second baseman Jackson Holliday, and Guerrero grounded out softly to Alonso. In the ninth, Varland struck out Leody Taveras and Samuel Basallo. Beavers reached second on a throwing error by Varland, but Alonso lined out to Okamoto at third to end the game.

Kirk finished 2-for-4 with one home run and three RBIs. Luis De León gave Baltimore 1.2 hitless innings with two strikeouts. Spencer Miles struck out five over two innings while allowing one hit and no earned runs. Spencer Arrighetti earned the win with 2.2 innings, two hits, no earned runs and two strikeouts. Pete Alonso went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Grant Wolfram struck out two in a scoreless inning. Louis Varland struck out two in a scoreless inning. Anthony Nunez allowed one earned run over 1.2 innings with four strikeouts. Joe Mantiply pitched a scoreless inning. Tyler Rogers pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Bateman added a home run, and Guerrero doubled and drove in a run for Toronto. Henderson doubled for Baltimore, and Pozo singled ahead of Alonso’s home run.

Toronto remains in the chase for the final AL wild card. The Blue Jays sit one game behind Cleveland and two games ahead of Baltimore. The Orioles will try to even the series in Sunday’s finale at Rogers Centre before heading to New York for a three-game set against the Mets. Toronto will host Detroit for three games before traveling to Texas. The teams will meet again in Baltimore from Sept. 21-23.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto 6, Baltimore 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Toronto a 56.7 percent probability to win. Baltimore had been installed as the pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 10 exceeded the over/under line of 8.5.