Somehow, even as they allowed home runs at a record pace, no Orioles pitcher had surrendered a grand slam in 2019. In fact, Baltimore entered Wednesday’s game with the Toronto Blue Jays as the only American League team yet to be tagged with a four-run bomb.
That remained true until Miguel Castro’s 98 mph sinker ran into Rowdy Tellez’s bat and went into Camden Yards’ right-field flag court with two outs in the fifth inning, supplying distance that proved more than necessary in Toronto’s 8-6 victory to even the three-game series.
The blast was the 129th home run allowed by Orioles pitching, putting Baltimore (21-46), in its 67th game, halfway to the 2016 Cincinnati Reds’ record of 258 forfeited homers.