Trevor Rogers was non-decisioned in a hard-luck manner for the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon in Houston. He by and large pitched well enough to win. And he should have won. Rogers’ line: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K.
Dylan Beavers got the Orioles on the board in the fourth on an RBI-double. Rogers was lifted after allowing two on in the sixth, with two outs. Rico Garcia was greeted by a bunt RBI-single by Allen, tying the game at one.
The game went to extra innings, and it got interesting fast. Leody Taveras was the Orioles’ ghost runner in the tenth, and he went to third on Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s single. Taveras would later score on a sacrifice bunt by Jeremiah Jackson, and the O’s led 2-1.
However Houston would get the leadoff runner on in the bottom of the tenth, and Alvarez’s ground rule run-scoring double would tie the game at two. Following a Gunnar Henderson throwing error, Houston had the bases loaded with nobody out. Not exactly a scenario conducive to winning.
Altuve came to the plate needing to get one run in to win the ballgame. He sent a fly ball medium depth to right field. Tyler O’Neill made the catch for an out, and immediately turned his attention to the runner at third who was tagging up.
O’Neill made a somersaulting throw to home plate, and Samuel Basallo tagged the runner on the helmet as he tried to slide in and score what would have been the winning run. Houston persisted and tried to have Wade lay down a quick bunt for a base hit – back to the pitcher, Andrew Kitteredge. However he calmly threw the runner out at first to end the inning. And we played on.
Everything had to come together for the Orioles to avoid losing the game in that inning. None however moreso than the Tyler O’Neill throw. Say what you will about him at the plate. But his play in the field was outstanding today.
And speaking of O’Neill at the plate, he came up in the top of the eleventh with two outs and runners on first and second. After working the count, he sent a swinging bunt to Altuve at second. However for whatever reason, Altuve was playing slightly further back than he probably should have been.
With the runners going on contact, O’Neill ran on a dead sprint down the first base line. And he was safe. In the mean time, Gunnar Henderson (the ghost runner) astutely never stopped running. This until he had crossed home plate, giving the Orioles a 3-2 lead.
Later in the inning with Leody Taveras batting, Houston’s batter had some major issues with their pitchcom device. The game was paused for a few minutes while they worked on it. Did that effectively freeze the pitcher, De Los Santos? Possibly. Either way, Taveras smacked an RBI-single extending the lead to 4-2. Resulting in an unlikely 4-2 victory.
The O’s have now won this series in Houston. Which given the Wild Card standings, is a big deal. However again, make no mistake that this was Tyler O’Neill’s day. As hard of a season as he’s had, he found a way to contribute and to help the team win a ballgame. Heck of an effort, which was about as gritty as you’re going to find.
During the game we also learned that the O’s had signed pitcher Kyle Bradish to a contract extension. The deal is believed to be for five years and in excess of $90 million. That’s two pitchers (Bradish and Shane Baz) that the O’s have locked up for the foreseeable future.
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon at Daikin Park. Brandon Young gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Hunter Brown. Game time is set for just after 2 PM.
Birdland Crush 