BALTIMORE (AP) — Anthony Santander finally homered for the Toronto Blue Jays.
All it took was a trip to his former ballpark.
Santander returned to Camden Yards on Saturday, and after receiving a nice ovation from the Baltimore crowd — and a video tribute soon after — the ex-Orioles slugger went deep in the third inning. His solo homer gave Toronto a 3-0 lead, although Baltimore ultimately rallied to win 5-4.
“It was awesome to hit a homer here," Santander said. "Hopefully we can continue hitting more.”
After spending his first eight seasons with the Orioles, including a 44-homer campaign last year, Santander left for the AL East-rival Blue Jays, signing a $92.5 million, five-year contract. He's started slowly this year, and after receiving a nice cheer from the crowd, he grounded out in the first inning.
“When you feel that the fans really love you, they really like you, so it means a lot," Santander said. "Especially that they saw me grow up here as a player, and as a person.”
After the bottom of the first, Santander received a tribute on the scoreboard. Then in the third, he hit a drive to right field through the chilly April air off Tomoyuki Sugano. That was his third RBI of the season.
“I’m sure he can take a little bit of a deep breath," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Cool moment here. Really cool that they recognized him the way they did and rightfully so, for what he did here.”
Santander hit another deep flyball in the fifth, but it was caught on the warning track. He finished 1 for 4, raising his average to .190 on the season.
Santander is no stranger to slow starts. He's a career .211 hitter in April. But he made good contact Saturday.
“I always go with that mentality, hit the ball hard," Santander said. "It took me 15 games, but so happy that I did it.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Noah Trister, The Associated Press
