Baltimore Orioles’ starter Gabriel Ynoa did what he could to put the O’s in a spot to win last night. He ended up taking the loss, however he also pitched well enough to win. Ynoa’s line: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
The Birds took a 1-0 lead in the third o. Trey Mancini‘s RBI-double. However back-to-back homers by Toronto one inning later would give Toronto a 2-1 lead. The O’s would tie the game back up at two in the fifth when Anthony Santander hit into a fielder’s choice with a runner on third. Which is also scored as an RBI.
However Toronto’s trademark this entire series has been the big inning. Last night they won the game with a six-run seventh inning. And the scary thing is that this is as young a team as the Orioles.
It seems that no matter who’s played for Toronto over the years, they’ve always had big innings against the Orioles in them. They could get shut out by any other team, but they’ll have a big inning in them to beat the O’s. Trey Mancini would smack ah RBI-double in the seventh, and Austin Hays would homer in the ninth to cut the deficit to 8-4 as the final.
But the big story of the game was Austin Hays in center field. I mentioned above that Toronto smacked back-to-back home runs in the fourth. That was almost back-to-back-to-back homers. And it probably should have been. In fact, it definitely should have been.
Guerrero (Jr.) sent a deep shot to center field – this after two straight home runs. Hays tracked the ball all the way to the wall, timed his jump perfectly, and brought the ball back into play as it sailed over the wall. He flat out robbed Guerrero of a homer.
To his credit, Guerrero tipped his cap to Hays as he ran off the field. As they say game recognizes game. That was one of the best catches of the season, league-wide. And Hays knew immediately that he had done something special, as he pumped his chest with his fist. Now I’m not a huge fan of that sort of thing, as I feel like it could be deemed as showing up the opponent. (Which is part of why I was almost surprised to see Guerrero tip his cap.) However I digress – it was a special moment, and one that we’ll see again on highlight reels in the coming years.
The Orioles will now welcome Seattle into Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the final hike series of the season. Richard Bleier will get the start out of the bullpen, and he’ll be opposed by Seattle’s Felix Hernandez. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 