Baltimore Orioles Force Game 5, Beat Yankees 2-1 in 13 Innings
By Josh Hill
The Baltimore Orioles had their backs up against the wall on Thursday night in the Bronx and you could tell. The O’s were a shell of the woeful team they’ve been for the past 15 years, and they took the Bombers deep into extra innings trying to keep this magical season alive.
Both bullpens were golden, with Darren O’ Day going well past his assumed one inning of work, pitching into the 11th inning and staying near perfect the whole way through. The same can be said about the Yankees bullpen that saw Rafael Soriano go two solid innings without allowing a run before handing the ball over to Joba Chamberlain.
To put in perspective how stout these bullpens were on Thursday night, the first base hit of extra innings wasn’t had until Matt Wieters singled off of Chamberlain in the top half of the 12th inning. Prior to that only Mark Teixeira had been on base and that was by way of a walk in the home half of the 10th inning.
That single by Wieters was came on a broken bat play, part of which nailed Chamberlain in his elbow causing him to leave the game. David Phelps came in and without warming up fully, pitched a three up, three down inning. It was his second inning of work that proved hazardous to the Yankees World Series hopes. Phleps allowed a lead-off double to Manny Machado in the top of the 13th who advanced to third on a Nate McClouth ground out and eventually scored the go-ahead run on a J.J. Hardy double.
After that go-ahead run, the O’s turned to their excellent bullpen and Jim Johnson to close out the Yankees and force Game 5.
Without a doubt Nate McClouth was the MVP for the Orioles aside from Darren O’ Day. It was McClouth’s solo shot in the top of the fifth that gave the O’s an early lead and followed it up by making an incredible catch against the wall in the bottom half of the fifth that saved what would have been a go-ahead run by the Yankees. On the play, with one out, Russell Martin took off on a deep drive by Jayson Nix which ended up being caught by McClouth. By the time Martin realized the ball was caught he was already at third and was doubled up at first.
It has been a hard fought series by the Orioles who came out balling in Game 4. That hard work and sheer stamina proved useful as they now have evened the series to force a decisive Game 5. Their dream season is still alive and after outlasting the Bombers in the heart of the Bronx, the question is have the Orioles just convinced themselves and the world that they can really pull off this series?