What happened? Anthony Santander hit two home runs and made a leaping catch on a drive by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that could have tied the game, and Jackson Holliday homered for the third consecutive game as the Orioles came from behind to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3, at Rogers Centre on Wednesday night.

Santander has a career-high 34 home runs. He hit a two-run homer  in the first and added a solo home run in the eighth to give the Orioles a two-run lead. It was the seventh time the switch-hitter homered from both sides of the plate.

The 20-year-old Holliday became the youngest American League player to homer in three consecutive games. He hit a two-strike, two-run homer 424 feet against Ryan Burr (0-1) in the seventh that gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead. The Orioles’ offense had gone flat after Santander’s homer in the first.

“Obviously that was a pretty important moment in the game that flipped the score,” Holliday told reporters in Toronto. “I think we needed a little bit of momentum and got it from Tony’s catch.”

Manager Brandon Hyde thought Holliday’s homer turned the game.

“Didn’t feel like things were going our way, especially early, Hyde told reporters in Toronto. “Made some mistakes defensively, just didn’t have much momentum. Santander with a huge hit to start the game, but kind of flat offensively. Massive hit, and we added on from there. That was a big win.”

After the Orioles took the lead on Holliday’s homer in the top of the seventh, the Orioles elected to pitch to Guerrero with two outs and George Springer at second. Guerrero drove Yennier Cano’s first pitch to deep right, but Santander made a leaping catch at the wall to end the inning. He then hit his second home run of the game in the top of the eighth.

“I was playing deep right there. I know Vlady has a lot of pop,” Santander said on the MASN postgame telecast. “I was playing ‘no doubles’ in that situation right there. I jumped and caught the ball.” He also got a tip of the cap (helmet) from Guerrero.

Eloy Jiménez added a two-run double in the eighth to give the Orioles a 7-3 lead.

Oriole starter Trevor Rogers, who was ineffective in his first start after coming to the Orioles from Miami, was much better in his second. The 26-year-old left-hander allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits in five innings. One of the hits was a ball hit to third that took a bad hop on Coby Mayo, who also made an error. Rogers walked two and struck out two.

“I thought we had a really good plan in place tonight,” Rogers told reporters in Toronto. “Got my feet back underneath me, got my routine back in order. I think Adley [Rutschman] and I really executed the gameplan all night long. Didn’t go well for me the first couple of innings, but we really settled down and got it done.”

Burch Smith, Cano, Cionel Pérez and Seranthony Dominguez combined for four scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and no walks.

Hyde was ejected by home plate umpire Larry Vanover for arguing about balls and strikes in the fifth inning.

Vanover, who’s rated the third least accurate home plate umpire in the majors by Umpscorecards.com tossed Hyde during an at-bat in which Colton Cowser took three called strikes.

“Just kept getting some calls that I felt like didn’t go our way,” Hyde said. “I probably said one too many things.”

Mayo went hitless in three at-bats, striking out twice. He’s hitless in 13 at-bats since being called up from Norfolk. He also threw wildly to first from third, leading to a run.

The Orioles (68-47) are back in a first-place tie with the New York Yankees in the American League East. The Yankees split a doubleheader with the Los Angeles Angels, winning the first game, 5-2, and losing the second, 8-2.

What happened to Rodriguez, Webb and Kjerstad? Before the game, the Orioles placed starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez and reliever Jacob Webb on the 15-day injured list and outfielder Heston Kjerstad on the 10-day injured list.

Rodriguez, who was scratched from his start on Tuesday night after saying he didn’t feel right, has right lat/teres discomfort. Webb has right elbow inflammation. Both moves are retroactive to Sunday.

Hyde told reporters in Toronto that the Orioles think Rodriguez’s injury isn’t as bad as the lat strain he suffered in June 2022 while pitching for Double-A Bowie. That injury ended Rodriguez’s season early.

Webb’s injury was discovered on Tuesday night. Hyde said Webb was headed back to Baltimore for tests.

Kjerstad was on the 7-day concussion injured list after he was hit on the helmet by a pitch from New York’s Clay Holmes on July 12^th. He went 2-for-18 (.143) after the injury and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on August 1^st after Jiménez and Austin Slater were added to the roster. Kjerstad didn’t play for Norfolk.

What’s the word?  “That’s just what he’s been doing this year. He’s been playing unbelievable baseball on both sides. To make that type of play, he is so locked in.”-Hyde on Santander’s season

What does it mean? Without Grayson Rodriguez, Rogers’ role will become more important for the Orioles, and they’re relieved to see him improve over his first start in Cleveland when he allowed five runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings on August 1^st.

What’s the stat of the day? 10. The Orioles have 10 players on the injured list. Besides, Kjerstad, Rodriguez and Webb, pitchers Félix Bautista, Kyle Bradish, Danny Coulombe, John Means and Tyler Wells and infielder Jorge Mateo are on the 60-day injured list while Jordan Westburg is on the 10-day injured list.

What happened in the minor leagues? Third baseman Ryan Higgins hit a grand slam and first baseman Samuel Basallo had four hits as Bowie beat Harrisburg, 7-1. Alex Pham (4-3) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits.

Second baseman Aron Estrada hit his first home run since being promoted to Single-A Aberdeen and designated hitter Creed Willems hit a two-run homer after being activated from the injured list in the IronBirds’ 9-8 loss to Hickory.

Salem beat Single-A Delmarva, 5-3. The Shorebirds had just five hits.

Norfolk and Durham were rained out. They’ll play a doubleheader on Thursday.

What’s next?  Dean Kremer (4-8, 4.39) will face former Oriole Kevin Gausman (9-8, 4.56) on Thursday night at 7:07  in the final game of the series.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]