As Blue Jays right fielder Nathan Lukes jumped in the air next to the warning track, the 14,929-person crowd hushed. Did he catch it? Did he not?

He came to the ground empty-handed, frantically searching for the ball that fell between his feet. Baltimore’s fans exploded when they realized Adley Rutschman had gotten a hit. They jumped out of their seats as Gunnar Henderson scored from second base.

The Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, taking both ends of the doubleheader and clinching a series win with the 3-2 victory. And for a few moments Orioles fans tasted a morsel of what a playoff atmosphere could’ve been like, had the team played better in the first two months of the season.

Baltimore’s success Tuesday night came in multiple forms, none more obvious than right-handed starter Brandon Young.

Young threw the longest game of his career, and it was his best. Going into the game, the matchup favored the Blue Jays, the major league leaders in batting average and hits.

Meanwhile, Young’s ERA had hovered between the high 6.00s and low 7.00s. He said last week in Cleveland he was frustrated with how his first seven major league starts had gone.

Tuesday night, though, was different. Young shook off the expectations and pitched 6 innings, earning his first career quality start. He gave up six hits and struck out an equal number of batters while walking only two.

“No doubt. Less frustrating, for sure,” Young said. ”Just giving my team a chance to win. That’s the goal every time we go out."

The Jays scored twice against Young before the Orioles could get on the board, once in the second and another in the fourth. But Baltimore kept the game competitive.

Throughout the game, the Orioles hit nine balls with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph, according to Statcast.

With a man on, Ryan O’Hearn smoked the first pitch in his fourth inning at-bat 97.4 mph down the left-field line. The ball struck the wall and bounced toward left-center for an RBI triple.

O’Hearn, however, wanted more.

“Yes, I was hoping [third-base coach] Buck [Britton] waved me home,” he said. “I haven’t had a major league in-the-parker in my career, so I thought it was maybe a shot when I saw it took off a wall like that. But I’ll take a triple.”

O’Hearn added another run on the next play, reaching home on a groundout to second, and Baltimore evened the score at 2.

Arguably, the Orioles battled bad luck as much as they did the Blue Jays. O’Hearn’s triple would’ve been a homer in 26 of 30 ballparks, including in Toronto. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Tyler O’Neill was feet away from his fifth home run in five games; however, the umpires confirmed it was foul after review.

In a unique twist, Baltimore fans saw reliever Seranthony Domínguez — who was an Oriole during Game 1, only to be traded to Toronto before the start of Game 2 — enter the game for the Blue Jays in the seventh.

Domínguez should bolster the Blue Jays bullpen, which entered the game with a 3.94 ERA, 17th best in the majors.

In the inning he threw, Domínguez struck out two swinging. He hit Dylan Carson with a pitch, but Carlson was caught attempting to steal third.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino spoke highly of Domínguez after the game, calling him an “incredible dude” and a leader for both American and Latin American players.

“He’s fair; he’s reasonable. He’s here for the team,” Mansolino said. “Toronto, they struck gold on him. We’re going to really miss him. We’d love to see him back here in 2026 if he’d want to come back. He’s a guy we’re really fond of.”

With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth, Henderson lashed a one-out double to right field off Jeff Hoffman. Rutschman immediately followed with a hit that flew just above Lukes’ outstretched glove and settled between his feet.

Orioles righty Corbin Martin came on in the ninth with a one-run lead and ramped up the tension by hitting the first batter he faced and walking the next.

A sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, but Martin settled in from there, striking out Lukes and Bo Bichette to earn his first career save.

“Big moments like that in the game. 3-2, runners on second and third — they always say bases loaded, but any moment like that, that’s a huge situation to be in," Martin said. “The trust to keep me out there, too, to get through that inning was a huge step forward for me, too. Getting out of that situation, getting that save and helping this team win.”

For his efforts, Martin enjoyed Coors Light in the clubhouse.