The Orioles used an eight-run seventh inning to pull off a stunning comeback win over the Yankees.
How about this as a palate cleanser? The Orioles, fresh from a brutal extra-inning loss, immediately set Birdland in high spirits with a performance for the ages. The Orioles used a seventh inning, eight runs, to go four runs down and defeat the Yankees 9-6 in New York.
The game started after a 95-minute rain delay. Tyler Wells allowed five runs from three long balls while Yankee starter Nestor Cortes tamed the Baltimore hitters. New York had a 5-1 lead early in the seventh inning.
Cortes had lasted six innings, but Anthony Santander started the seventh with a walk. Austin Hays laced up a ball from Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe to give Adam Frazier two hits.
Frazier ripped a high fastball down the right field line that ricocheted high off the foul post. The 314-foot blast shrank the Yankees lead to one and breathed new life into Baltimore.
Aaron Boone replaced Cortes with Jimmy Cordero, but Baltimore stayed on the gas pedal. James McCann laced up a ball from Volpe, and Jorge Mateo lifted a ball over the shortstop to hit Gunnar Henderson with two balls.
Henderson justified Brandon Hyde’s decision in the first pitch. The 21-year-old tore a ball over the right field line, which dripped into the corner. McCann and Mateo ran around the pockets and suddenly the O’s had their first lead of the game.
Cedric Mullins watched a third hit on the first out, but Henderson moved up to third with a pass. Adleyrutschman fell back 0:2, but fought back, worked out a walk and placed runners at the corners.
Boone went to the bullpen again and challenged Albert Abreu to face Ryan Mountcastle. Mountcastle lobbed a flat flyball to Aaron Judge in right field and Henderson chipped to plate. The throw went over the line, allowing Henderson to score and Slipman to capture second base.
Anthony Santander followed with a base hit down the middle and third base coach Tony Mansolino kept the windmill turning. Harrison Bader’s throw bounced off the mound,rutschman scored and Santander raced into goal position.
Hays shot the ball into left field for the second time in the inning. The crack hit Santander, capping an eight-run seventh inning. Frazier mercifully finished second, but the Birds had built a snowman (8) on a rainy night in New York.
Mychal Givens retired Isiah Kiner-Falefa to begin searching for a shutdown inning, but Rain had other ideas. Givens went to Willie Calhoun, dropped Gleyber Torres and went to Aaron Judge to load the bases. Givens obviously had no flair for baseball, so Hyde went out and took him.
Danny Coulombe walked in and quietly made one of the Orioles’ best relief performances of the season. The Yankees stole a runback when Anthony Rizzo hit a single into left field, but Hays made a tremendous dive to catch the baseball and prevent more runs from scoring.
Coulombe responded by knocking out DJ LeMahieu and generating a grounder from Bader. Henderson made the play and wisely ran to third instead of shooting a wet baseball over the diamond.
Coulombe came back for the eighth time, Yennier Cano was probably unavailable. The former twin beat Oswaldo Cabrera and Volpe before withdrawing Kiner-Falefa and ending the round of 16.
The Birds remained quiet for the last two frames before turning to their conclusion. Félix Bautista beat rival Aaron Judge with two outs last night, but The Mountain parried a high Anthony Rizzo fastball to cap Baltimore’s comeback win.
Seventh place with eight runs was a one-inning season best and immediately wiped away the bad taste of Tuesday’s heavy loss. The game was the latest in a series of significant victories the Orioles have already achieved this season. It was also a complete team win.
Nine batters combined for the Orioles 10 hits. Hays recorded the only multi-hit game in which both shots came in the seventh inning. Mountcastle launched a solo shot in the fourth round to keep the Birds within striking distance and added the sacrifice flight later in the game.
Tyler Wells allowed Torres a two-run home run in the second inning that gave the Yankees the lead. Wells conceded another two-run blast to Kiner-Falefa in the fifth, and Torres followed with his second long ball of the game.
Mike Baumann scored a clean sixth inning before the celebrations began.
The Orioles will look to win the series tomorrow when Kyle Gibson takes on Clarke Schmidt. Tonight’s win will be hard to top, but it’s hard to counter this team at the moment.
Continue reading