BALTIMORE (Interstat) — Trey Gibson pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, Christian Encarnacion-Strand drove in three runs and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 in the first game of a split doubleheader on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles were the home team and improved to 78-81. The visiting Blue Jays fell to 77-82. The game took 2 hours, 22 minutes and drew an announced attendance of 19,824.

Baltimore built its lead in the first inning. Dylan Beavers struck out swinging to begin the bottom half, but Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch. Gunnar Henderson struck out swinging for the second out. Coby Mayo then doubled on a sharp fly ball to left fielder Davis Schneider, moving Alonso to third. Encarnacion-Strand followed with a line-drive single to left that scored Alonso and Mayo. Colton Cowser doubled on a fly ball to shortstop Ernie Clement, deflected by Schneider, and Encarnacion-Strand scored. The rally gave the Orioles a 3-0 advantage.

Toronto’s early innings produced little against Gibson. Nathan Lukes lined out to shortstop Gunnar Henderson, Josh Smith grounded out to catcher Yohel Pozo and Alejandro Kirk struck out on a foul tip in the first. In the second, Kazuma Okamoto struck out swinging, Sean Keys grounded out and Charles McAdoo was called out on strikes after Davis Schneider walked. Myles Straw singled in the third, but Ernie Clement grounded into a double play. Lukes singled later in the inning, and Josh Smith flied out in foul territory. Kirk was called out on strikes in the fourth, Okamoto grounded out and Keys grounded out. Schneider, McAdoo and Straw went down in order in the fifth. Clement struck out, Lukes lined out and Smith struck out in the sixth.

Encarnacion-Strand struck again in the fourth. He homered on a fly ball to left field, a solo shot that extended Baltimore’s lead to 4-0. He finished 2 for 3 with one home run and three RBIs. Cowser went 1 for 3 with one RBI. Mayo’s first-inning double and Alonso’s hit-by-pitch helped set up the early offense. Baltimore did not score again after the fourth. In the second, Christian Franklin grounded out, Yohel Pozo flied out and Dylan Beavers lined out sharply to center fielder Myles Straw. In the third, Alonso grounded out, Henderson flied out and Mayo flied out. After the homer, Cowser grounded out, Jeremiah Jackson grounded out and Franklin grounded out. In the fifth, Pozo lined out, Beavers grounded out and Alonso lined out sharply to left. Henderson walked in the sixth, Mayo flied out and Encarnacion-Strand grounded into a double play.

Gibson kept Toronto quiet for most of the game. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out seven over 6 2/3 innings. He did not allow an earned run and earned the win, improving to 2-3. Yennier Cano recorded one out with one walk and one strikeout. Josh Walker pitched a scoreless inning and allowed one hit. Félix Bautista worked the ninth and allowed two hits and two earned runs with one strikeout.

Toronto’s late threat in the seventh began with Alejandro Kirk’s line-drive single to right. Kazuma Okamoto then grounded into a double play, shortstop Gunnar Henderson to second baseman Jeremiah Jackson to first baseman Pete Alonso. Sean Keys reached on a defensive shift violation error by Jackson. Davis Schneider walked, and Charles McAdoo walked to load the bases. Myles Straw was called out on strikes, ending the inning. Toronto grounded into two double plays in the game, including Ernie Clement’s double play in the third.

The Blue Jays scored their only runs in their final at-bat. Okamoto struck out swinging, but Keys singled on a line drive to right fielder Dylan Beavers. Schneider then homered on a fly ball to left field, scoring Keys and cutting the deficit to 4-2. Schneider finished 1 for 2 with one home run, two RBIs and two walks. McAdoo lined out to Henderson, and Straw grounded out from Mayo to Alonso to end it.

Toronto starter CJ Van Eyk took the loss. He allowed four hits and four earned runs over five innings, striking out two, and fell to 0-2. Brendan Cellucci pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings with one walk. Chase Lee followed with 1 2/3 hitless innings and three strikeouts. Toronto pitchers combined for nine strikes, 37 balls and nine balls in play. Baltimore pitchers combined for 13 strikes, 41 balls and 13 balls in play.

Toronto finished with six hits, while Baltimore had four. The Blue Jays got singles from Straw, Nathan Lukes, Kirk and Keys, with Lukes collecting two hits. Smith, Clement and Okamoto were among the Toronto batters held in check. Baltimore’s hits were Mayo’s double, Encarnacion-Strand’s single and home run, and Cowser’s double.

The Orioles had won Monday’s series opener against Toronto 4-3. The Blue Jays had taken three of the previous four meetings before that, including an 8-1 home win on Sept. 13 and a 7-3 home win on Sept. 12. Baltimore had lost three straight to Milwaukee before Monday’s victory. Toronto had split its previous series at Texas, winning 7-2 on Sept. 20 before dropping the final two games.

The doubleheader continued a late-season American League East series. Baltimore remained mathematically alive in the AL wild-card race for the moment. Toronto was in the middle of a road trip and was scheduled to return home to face Cincinnati after the twin bill. The Orioles were set to travel to New York for a series against the Yankees after the doubleheader.

Gibson’s start was the defining performance for Baltimore. He kept Toronto off the scoreboard into the seventh and gave the Orioles enough cushion to survive Schneider’s late two-run homer. Encarnacion-Strand supplied the biggest offensive blow with three RBIs, while Cowser added an important first-inning double. Bautista allowed the late home run but finished the game. Cano and Walker bridged the gap to the ninth.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto 6, Baltimore 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Baltimore a 51.3 percent pregame win probability. Baltimore had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 6 finished below the over/under line of 7.