Yankees Top Orioles 5-3 in Walk-Off Fashion
The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 in a tense game Friday night. The Orioles lose despite entering the bottom of the 9th inning with a 3-1 lead over New York, as Orioles closer Zach Britton implodes, giving up 4 runs in the final inning.
New York was able to get on the board first on the night, as Mark Teixeira shot an RBI double down the right field line to score Jacoby Ellsbury from second base in the bottom of the 1st inning. Ellsbury reached base on an infield single with two outs in the inning, then subsequently stole second base before scoring to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead.
Baltimore starter Ubaldo Jimenez was in trouble again in the 2nd inning. Carlos Beltran led off the inning with a double into the right field corner. With one out in the inning, former Oriole Brian Roberts pulled a single into right field, just past the diving Ryan Flaherty. Following a walk to Yangervis Solarte to load the bases, Jimenez was able to get out of the inning unscathed due to a fly ball caught by Adam Jones and Jones gunning down Beltran trying to score from third base.
The Yankees threaten again in the bottom of the 5th inning, with Jimenez issuing three-consecutive two-out walks (Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Ellsbury). While New York loaded the bases for the second time on the night and had Teixeira up at bat, Jimenez got out of the inning without giving up a run yet again, as the starter forced Teixeira into an inning-ending ground out.
Baltimore was finally able to get their first hit of the game in the top of the 6th inning, with Nick Hundley smacking a leadoff double into the right-center gap. With one out in the inning, Steve Pearce tied up the game with a double into the left field corner. Although Pearce went into the at-bat going 0 for 2 with two strikeouts in his first two tries against Hiroki Kuroda, Pearce went into the game hot. The designated hitter entered Friday night’s game hitting .400 over his last 10 games.
With Pearce now on second base, Adam Jones hit an opposite field RBI single to give the Orioles the 2-1 lead. Chris Davis gave the Orioles their fourth hit of the inning with a bloop single into shallow left field, but Baltimore failed to score any more runs in the frame.
Leading off the bottom of the 6th inning, Brian McCann singled past the shift into left field. Following the McCann single, Jimenez issued a four-pitch walk to Beltran. With no outs in the inning, Ichiro tries to make a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over; however, Manny Machado made an outstanding diving catch to record the out and keep the runners at first and second. Now with two outs in the frame, Jimenez loaded the bases with his sixth walk of game.
T.J. McFarland relieved Jimenez following the walk, and quickly forced Gardner into hitting an inning-ending ground out (on a nice play up the middle by Ryan Flaherty). Although Jimenez issued six walks and was in trouble in four out of the six innings he pitched in, the 30-year-old starter only allowed one run in the game. McFarland did not give up a hit, walk, or run in two innings of relief for the Orioles.
Orioles pinch hitter Jonathan Schoop reached first base in the top of the 9th inning on an error by Yankee third baseman Solarte. After a sacrifice bunt by Hundley, Markakis hit an infield single to give Baltimore runners on first and third with one out. Pearce again delivered an RBI hit for the Birds on the night, but this time it would be a single into center field. The run gave the Orioles the 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th inning.
With Baltimore closer Zach Britton in the game, Gardner poked a single to lead off the bottom of the 9th inning for New York. Britton then struck out Jeter and got Ellsbury to fly out to give the Orioles two outs in the frame. While Britton only needed one more out to record the save, he ended up walking Teixeira, giving up an RBI single to McCann, and finally allowing a massive three-run walk-off home run to Beltran.
The two American League East foes will be back at it at 1:05pm on Saturday, as Bud Norris (6-5, 3.73 ERA) takes the mound for Baltimore, and Vidal Nuno (1-3, 5.90 ERA) tries to keep the Yankee winning streak alive.
