Brandon Young worked through parts of six innings tonight for the Baltimore Orioles. End of the day, he put the Birds in a spot to win tonight at Camden Yards against Tampa. Young’s line: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K.
Young surrendered a solo home run to Hicks in the second. This after the O’s left some runners on base in the last of the first. Tampa always gets fat on what you leave behind. And they look for any opening they can find.
And in a warped sort of way, they did that in the sixth inning as well. Following a leadoff walk, Diaz singled to Tyler O’Neill in right, who came up throwing – to third base. Make no mistake, it was a great play by Tyler O’Neill. He gunned out the runner at third in a brilliant and tactical manner, leaving one out and one on.
However Simpson’s RBI-single later in the inning doubled the Tampa lead at 2-0. The runner the O’s couldn’t clear off the bases ending up biting them. That’s what Tampa does – despite the O’Neill throw and the out at third. Say what you want about Tyler O’Neill’s hitting, but his defense is too notch.
With one on and one out in the eighth, the Birds trailed 2-0. Yet Craig Albernaz had a couple of bullets in the holster. He shot one by sending Samuel Basallo up as a pinch-hitter to n lieu of Coby Mayo.
And Basallo immediately delivered. He smacked a two-run home run, which tied the game and electrified the Camden Yards crowd. In a snap, the game had turned.
The game went to extra innings, where of course we see the ghost runner on second. Rico Garcia came in to pitch the tenth, and recorded the first out on a Mullins ground out. However that pushed the go-ahead run to third base, bringing Walls to the plate.
Walls isn’t the best hitter on planet earth. But he can bunt. The O’s brought the infield in, anticipating a squeeze play. And sure enough, Tampa delivered.
After Walls swung through the first pitch, he bunted the second one. Only thing was he bunted it right back to Garcia, who immediately made the play at the plate, with the catcher Carlos Narvaez tagging the runner out at home. That left a runner at first with two outs, and the following hitter popped out to right.
The Orioles correctly anticipated what Tampa was going to do. Heck of a play by Garcia to make the play at the plate. The Orioles anticipated a squeeze play, with the runner running on contact. And they were right.
The O’s had the ghost runner in the tenth also. And that ghost runner scored on a Dylan Beavers walk off run-scoring double. That sent the Birds home 3-2 winners, meaning that they’ve now won two different series’ from Tampa on two different consecutive weekends.
The moments you’re conditioned to remember from this game are Basallo and Beavers. But DO NOT underestimate the defensive aspect in this game. Tyler Wells, Rico Garcia, and Carlos Narvaez each played a major role on that side of the ball. Runs saved are runs scored in a one-run game.
The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Shane Baz gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Nick Martinez. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 