Orioles power past Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays’ vaunted offence has been sputtering against divisional rivals this week but manager John Schneider is preaching patience in the clubhouse and to media.

Ryan Mountcastle’s three-run homer lifted the Baltimore Orioles over the Blue Jays 6-2 on Friday as Toronto lost its second straight and dropped into fourth in the American League East. The Blue Jays runs came from Danny Jansen’s RBI single and Bo Bichette’s groundout.

“I know it sucks and when you’re in a little bit of a rut like this, everyone wants to do it,” said Schneider after the game. “You’ve got to just understand that it’s going to come.”

Toronto also dropped three of four games to the visiting New York Yankees to start the week, making the Blue Jays 1-4 since Monday with a total of 14 runs in that span. Schneider said his players know that they need to stop pressing at the plate and focus on getting quality at bats.

“I think that they want it badly,” said Schneider. “It’s just a matter of it happening and trusting the guys in the clubhouse that it’s going to turn around.”

Yusei Kikuchi (5-1) gave up three runs on three hits, striking out three but walking four over 4 2/3 innings.

“It’s tough to put things together based on my outing today,” said Kikuchi through a translator. “They’re a tough lineup over there, I know that and I’ll reset for next time.”

Trevor Richards, Tim Mayza, Anthony Bass, Erik Swanson, and Thomas Hatch came out of the Blue Jays bullpen, with Richards allowing a run and Swanson two.