The Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 2-1 in 13 innings to even up their AL Divsiion Series matchup at two games apiece.
I don't even know what to say about this Orioles team anymore. They took a 1-0 lead in the fifth after a solo homer by Nate McLouth (of all people), and immediately gave it up in the sixth after Joe Saunders worked himself into a jam and allowed Derek Jeter to score on a Robinson Cano groundout. Baltimore's pitching staff did an amazing job at working out of jams, and by the same token, the Yankees offense was pitiful at bringing runes in. New York went 0/9 with runners in scoring position, and stranded ten men. Presented without comment: Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, and Curtis Granderson (the third through seventh place hitters on the Yankees) went 1/24 with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Orioles blew scoring chances of their own throughout the game. They went just 1/11 with runners in scoring position, but the one hit was a big one: a JJ Hardy double in the top of the 13th to score Manny Machado and put Baltimore on top for good. Chris Davis and Adam Jones, the Orioles' three and four hitters, combined to go 0/12 with five strikeouts. They just couldn't put anything together in an inning until the 13th, but at the end of the night, that's all they needed.
A pair of major hat tips in Thursday's game go to both bullpens. The Orioles pen didn't allow a run over 7 1/3, giving up four hits, one walk, and striking out six hitters. The Yankees bullpen fared a little less well, but still performed admirably, allowing just the one run in 6 1/3 innings on four hits, striking out four without a walk.
Game five will be on Friday in New York at 5:07 PM. Jason Hammel will start for the Orioles, and CC Sabathia gets the nod for the Yankees.
