Bob Haynie: More Extra Inning Magic For The Orioles
Manny Machado ripped a Cory Rasmus pitch into the left field seats on Tuesday night to give the Baltimore Orioles a dramatic 7-6, 12th inning victory over the L.A. Angels at Camden Yards. The win kept the Orioles 2.5 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East and sent the home fans into a frenzy.
The walk-off homer was the first of Machado's young career and probably will not be his last. Machado's heroics made a winner of RHP Ryan Webb who pitched a scoreless 12th and was the seventh pitcher of the night used by manager Buck Showalter.
With the win, the Birds continued their recent hot streak at home. The Orioles have won eight of their last 10 games at Camden Yards and now sport a home record of 27-23.
As hot as the Orioles are at home, they are even hotter in extra-inning games. As a matter of fact, they are on fire.
The Birds have gone extras in three of the last four games and have won them all. Tuesday night's win was their seventh-straight in extra-innings and improved their season record in those situations to 12-3. That is the top mark in the majors.
What we are seeing this year is reminiscent of what we saw in the playoff season of 2012. That club went an amazing 16-2 in extras as they made the postseason for the first time since 1997.
Getting caught up in the history of Oriole Magic is always a fun thing to do. In the case of extra-inning baseball, there may be something to it.
With the exception of the Boston Red Sox, the other teams in the AL East have been playing good baseball since the All-Star break. To their credit, the Orioles have been able to maintain their lead in the division.
Winning these heart-stopping games in extra-innings will go a long way in helping the Baltimore Orioles in their quest to win the division title for the first time in 17 years.
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