The Baltimore Orioles took two of three from their A. L. East rival the New York Yankees before a cold, damp and delighted crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
After splitting the first two games of the series, Baltimore won an exciting game three, 1-0 in 10 innings with the assistance of two new birds.
Hyun Soo Kim led off the inning with a “Baltimore Chop” a name given to a high-bouncing infield hit and was on first when second baseman Jonathan Schoop lifted a soft liner into left center which advance Kim, running on the play, to third. With runners on the corners and no outs, Pedro Alverez came to the plate.
Facing Yankee pitcher Andrew Miller, who at times can be unhittable, Alverez got a pitch he could drive and lifted it into centerfield. His sacrifice fly plated Nolan Reimold who was pinch running for Kim with the winning run in extra innings. Alverez was mobbed by his excited teammates after his series-clinching RBI.
Obviously, the game was a real pitcher’s duel as Oriole’s starter Kevin Gausman struck out four and only allowed three hits and three base runners in eight innings of work. Reliever Darren O’Day came in in the ninth inning and did his job to keep the game scoreless.
Closer, Zach Britton, back after being out for a few games with a sore ankle, came in and struck out the side in the 10th inning to set up the victory.
The Orioles dropped the middle game of the series, 7-0, their second shut out of the season. Yankee’s starter CC Sabathia went seven innings striking out six and allowing six hits. The bullpen struck out four and allowed one hit to secure the victory for New York which halted a six-game losing streak.
The first game of the series, a 4-1 Baltimore win, was the “Tillman and Trumbo Show.” Starter Chris Tillman (3-1, 2.53 ERA) finished with a career-tying nine strikeouts, allowing five hits and four walks on 110 pitches in seven innings of work.
The Oriole scoring was provided by Trumbo, who had a two-homer game. With the score 2-1, he hit a solo homer with the count two and two to tie the game at 2-2 in the second inning. Later in the bottom of the fifth, and with center fielder Adam Jones aboard, Trumbo launched a moon shot on a 1 and 1 count into the left field stands to give his team a 4-1 lead. He now has eight homers for the season.
Baltimore now has a record of (16-11) and the Yankees are last in the division with a (9-17) record.
