Ain’t the beer cold! It’s been a while since the Orioles delivered excitement like this! And even better, it comes at the expense of the New York Yankees!
The Birds went to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, while the Yankees held a 2.5-game lead in the first Wild Card spot. The Yankees needed to win these games to maintain ground ahead of the Red Sox, and the Orioles did a great job of playing spoiler!
As a baseball fan, this series was extremely exciting from start to finish. All three games were decided by just one run, with one game going into the 11th inning. The O’s out-scored the Yankees 15-14 in this series.
The starting pitching for the Orioles was great in these three games. John Means pitched a beauty in game one but was a no-decision due to a lack of run support. Means’ two runs in five innings was his best start since the beginning of August.
In game two, Chris Ellis was electric. In his second start with the Orioles, Ellis completely fooled the Yankees’ lineup. He didn’t give up a hit through five innings, and the bullpen in relief didn’t allow the first hit until the seventh. The craziest part about Ellis having these two fantastic starts is that he is a relief pitcher doing this in bullpen games.
Keegan Akin fell off a little bit from his last two starts, but he still kept the Orioles in a position to win. He did allow a grand slam, but the offense was able to come back.
The bullpen was everything this series. They picked up the two wins for the Orioles and didn’t allow more than one run in any inning. Tyler Wells had a fantastic series, giving up zero base runners in 2.1 innings across two appearances. He also picked up his first career save in game three, going through Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Anthony Rizzo!
The offense showed more heart this series than they have all season. They continued to fight in every game and ultimately pulled out two wins from very clutch hitting. Even in the loss in game one, Trey Mancini came through in the ninth to tie the game, and then Ryan Mountcastle further extended the game in the 10th with an RBI of his own.
Cedric Mullins notched his 32nd double in game two, and it was a two-RBI play that set up a game-winning sacrifice fly by Pedro Severino a few innings later in the top of the ninth.
Speaking of Cedric Mullins, he became only the third Oriole player to reach 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season! His 25th came in game three and was part of a comeback effort! Jahmai Jones added his third double and an RBI in the seventh, and that double jump-started a four-run inning that propelled the O’s to a win!
Also, Austin Hays extended his hit streak to 12 games, his second streak of 10+ games and third of 8+ games!
Without further ado, here are the final scores from this series:
Game 1: NYY 4, BAL 3
- Loss: Tate (0-6)
- Means: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 K
- Wells: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER
- Mancini: 2-for-4, RBI, R
- Mateo: 1-for-4, HR (4), RBI
Game 2: BAL 4, NYY 3
- Win: Sulser (4-3) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER
- Ellis: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 K
- Mullins: 2-for-5, 2B (32), RBI
- Hays: 2-for-5, RBI
- Jones: 2-for-4, 2B (2), R
Game 3: BAL 8, NYY 7
- Win: Diplán (1-0)
- Akin: 4 IP, 3 H, 4 ER
- Scott: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER
- Wells: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, SV (1)
- Hays: 2-for-5, HR (15) RBI,
- Mullins: 2-for-4, 2-run HR (25), 2 RBI
- Jones: 1-for-2, 2B (3), 2 RBI
How do you feel about this series victory? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter and our podcast “The Walk-Off” on YouTube and Spotify! And, make sure to use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content to show your Birdland swag!
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