BALTIMORE -- Just when it seemed as if the infamous Baltimore Orioles Magic might have finally run out, Manny Machado proved that there's still some karma left in the kitty.
Four hours and 27 minutes after the first pitch, and four innings after All-Star closer Zach Britton blew a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth, fellow All-Star Machado lined an 0-1 changeup from reliever Aaron Brooks over the left-field wall at Camden Yards to give the Baltimore Orioles a dramatic 8-6 win over the Oakland A's.
Fresh off a West Coast trip that finished with three bitter losses in the last four days (two extra-innings affairs and a no-hitter), the victory was as crucial for the Orioles -- who started Friday 2½ games out in the wild-card race and 5½ games back in the AL East -- as it was improbable. After trailing 4-0 early, Baltimore closed to within one in the fifth inning on a three-run homer by Adam Jones. In the seventh, right after Jones tied it up with a sacrifice fly that just barely scored Machado, Chris Davis launched a two-run bomb onto Eutaw Street (the eighth time he has done that, most in Camden Yards history) to give the Birds a 6-4 lead.
But thanks to a wonky ninth-inning rally that started with two infield hits, Britton, who worked what manager Buck Showalter called "as good an inning as he's had all year," was unable to shut the door. The blown save, the first for the Baltimore closer since April 25 and only his second of the season, left what had been a boisterous Camden Yards crowd of 36,000-plus in a quiet state of shock.
Then things got even weirder. In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and the winning run on third, J.J. Hardy lined a low scorcher that struck A's pitcher Fernando Rodriguez on the foot and just stopped dead right in front of him. Rodriguez had no clue where the ball was, then finally grabbed it just in time to get Hardy at first.
"I don't think I've ever seen a ball hit a guy's foot and just stop right there," Showalter said. "That's when everybody scratches their head and goes, 'Really?' It didn't look like it was going to be."
That Showalter, a pragmatic skipper who's not one to cry kismet, even made mention of the bizarro turn of events is an indicator of just how bad Baltimore's fortunes have been lately. Of just how little Orioles Magic -- the auric anthem that started with the O's '79 World Series squad and still has legs in Charm City three decades later -- there's been lately.
But thanks to a standout performance by the bullpen (six relievers combined to go eight strong after starter Ubaldo Jimenez lasted only five innings) and long balls from Baltimore's Big 3 (only the second time Jones, Davis, and Machado have homered in the same game), those fortunes turned. And the O's got a much-needed victory Showalter admitted was sweeter than the average W.
"That made it even better all the baseball gods [we] overcame tonight," he said.
"It was a long grinding game and we came out with the win," Machado said after the game, as drops of water fell from the ice pack wrapped around his right shoulder and onto his sandals. "We needed this win to get us going."
Said Jimenez with a huge smile: "It was a great win. One of those wins that at the end of the season you look back and say that kind of win, that was the one that pulled us together."
It was also the kind of win that ended with "Orioles Magic" blaring over the sound system at Camden Yards.
