Baltimore Orioles: Cedric Mullins walks Birds off as winners

The Baltimore Orioles got a bit of a longer outing tonight out of Austin Voth. To be clear, a longer outing than they’re used to getting. Does this mean they’re stretching Voth out? Tough to say. But he pitched into the fifth inning tonight against Texas. Voth’s line: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K.

This game was sort of wild from the beginning. Jorge Mateo’s RBI-single in the second gave the O’s a 1-0 lead. Cedric Mullins added a two-RBI double, and Trey Mancini an RBI-double of his own. When the smoke cleared the O’s led, 4-0.

But Texas snapped back in the fifth. They put three runs on the board, bringing them to within one at 4-3. Then Garver’s solo home run in the seventh tied the game. Whereas it looked like the O’s might cruise to victory…let’s just say that nothing’s easy in thugs world.

But they would get the lead back in the last of that seventh inning. Anthony Santander’s RBI-single gave the Birds a 5-4 lead. And it even looked like they had put some insurance runs up, as Ramon Urias’ two-RBI single gave them a three-run lead at 7-4.

But Texas came back again, and in one fatal swoop. Lowe’s three-run homer in the top of the eighth tied the game at seven. Then it was the Orioles’ turn – in the last of the eighth. Ryan McKenna picked an outstanding time for his first homer of the season, a solo shot. It gave the O’s an 8-7 lead.

And go figure, the teams swapped homers in the ninth. The game was re-tied at nine when Roughned Odor smacked a solo home run. And to extra innings we went! One might have labeled this as the game that wouldn’t die.

Almost true to form for this game, Texas threatened in the top of the tenth. They loaded the bases, but the Orioles pitched out of it. This put the O’s in a spot to once again take advantage of the ghost runner on second rule in extra innings. And of course the advantage that they also had (from the beginning) is that the home team bats last. And it was Cedric Mullins who played the hero last night, with an RBI-single to win the game for the O’s.

It goes down as one win. But this was a crazy game that went back and forth. Just when one team thought they had dealt a death blow to the other, something else would happen. Needless to say, it was about as entertaining of a game as you’re going to see in a given year.

The series concludes this evening at Camden Yards. Spencer Watkins gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Texas’ Glenn Otto. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.