Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios throws against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of spring training baseball action in Dunedin, Fla., on Sunday, March 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill
DUNEDIN, Fla. – Bo Bichette and Daulton Varsho hit solo homers, Jose Berrios pitched five solid innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in spring training baseball action Wednesday.
Bichette hit his third homer of the spring in the first inning to open the scoring, and Varsho followed with his first in the fifth inning to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.
Orioles second baseman Terrin Vavra went deep off Berrios to lead off the sixth. Kyle Stowers followed with a single, prompting Blue Jays manager John Schneider to replace Berrios with Tim Mayza.
Mayza and four other relievers allowed two hits and no walks the rest of the way to cement the win. Canadian closer Jordan Romano pitched the ninth inning to pick up the save.
Berrios allowed one earned run on six hits while striking out five to kick off a game that was over in a tidy two hours 10 minutes.
He improved to 2-0 on the spring with a 2.70 earned-run average.
Orioles starter Dean Kremer allowed two runs on three hits over five innings while striking out three.
Toronto (15-11) faces Minnesota on Thursday in Fort Myers, Fla.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.
