In the bottom of the 1st inning, Steve Pearce “Pearced” another homer into the left field stands to give the O’s a 1-0 lead. Then in the 3rd inning after two quick outs, Markakis drew a walk, Pearce got a single, and that got the rally going. Adam Jones then followed with an RBI double, leaving men on second and third. That brought up Nelson Cruz, who hit a slow ground ball up the middle. It looked good enough to be an infield hit, but then Ian Desmond decided to spin and make an off balanced throw to third, which resulted in an overthrow that allowed the Orioles to score two runs making it 4-0.
The following inning, The Nats asked for a review on a pitch they believed hit Adam Laroche. After review, it indeed brushed his jersey, and the Nats immediately capitalized by getting a run off a Ryan Zimmerman single. They then added on two more runs in the 6th, off a Jayson Werth solo shot, and RBI double from Ian Desmond to make 4-3 O’s.
There wasn’t any scoring after the 6th, but there was an interesting 7th and 8th inning, which the O’s got out of both times, including Darren O’Day escaping a bases loaded jam. Zach Britton came out in the 9th, got two quick outs, and then allowed and infield hit to Anthony Rendon, bringing Jatson Werth to the plate. Werth fouled a ball off his foot, and took his sweet time walking it off, making the home plate umpire react to this long stroll. To allow even more time, out came manager Matt Williams and the trainer. All this time only for Werth to ground out and end the game that next pitch.
The Orioles are now 3 games ahead of Toronto, 4 games ahead of New York, and 9.5 games head of both Boston and Tampa Bay. They have also guaranteed a first place spot during the All Star break for the 1st time since 1997. 1997 was also the last time the O’s won the division, so lets leave it at that.