Are you still catching your breath after that Orioles game? So am I. Before I get to the happy ending, let me go through what was a less then stellar game by the O’s.
Adam Jones got to Chris Sale early with a 2 run home run in the 1st inning. The Orioles, after facing arguably the best right handed pitcher in the league, get rewarded by facing the best lefty in the league. The Orioles were not rattled though. They forced Chris Sale to give up a career high 11 hits, but on multiple occasions left runners in scoring position.
What seemed to really take the wind out of the O’s, was having bases loaded no one out in the 5th, and not scoring. The next inning, the White Sox came back to take the lead with another homer bye rookie of the year candidate Jose Abreu.
It seemed as though the O’s would be haunted by all their runners left in scoring position. After the Sox tacked on another run, Caleb Joseph got his second home run in as many nights, and his second in his career to bring the deficit down to one. In the 9th, Steve Pearce led off with a ringing single, and Adam Jones got hit, and that brought Cruz to the plate. Nelson Cruz struck out, which left O’s fans thinking if this was deja vu of tonight.
Well it was supposed to be Delmon Young, who had 3 hits in his start for the ever struggling Davis. Not many guys with 3 hits on the night get pinch hit for, but Davis was on the bench, and Buck Showalter felt he was their best chance to win. Boy was he right. On a 3-2 pitch, Davis hammered a breaking ball deep into the Baltimore night, sending Oriole Park into an absolute frenzy.
This was a huge win for the O’s who left so many guys on base, but found a way in the end to finally get that big hit. This win leaves the Orioles still 1.5 games out of first, but sends them ahead of New York by a game.