Baltimore Orioles: Manny Machado adds some sun

With his twentieth steal of the season yesterday, Manny Machado became the second 30/20 man in the history of the Baltimore Orioles. With the caliber of players that the Birds have had over the years, that’s kind of amazing if you think about it. However what’s more amazing is that yesterday’s game was resumed after a three-hour rain delay. I know it meant something in terms of the playoff picture, but – wow!

Tyler Wilson pitched well in his start, however he didn’t last after the rain delay. Wilson’s line: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K. That looks like a line from a spring training game, an incidentally March is only six months away! That’s one of the big problems with lengthy rain delays in that managers generally stay away from using their starters in the game again because he’s cooled down and so forth.

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Machado got things started right off the bat with a two-run homer in the first, which was followed by an RBI-double by Steve Pearce later in the inning. And then the rains came. It rained…and rained…and then rained some more! I’ll be honest; at a certain point I thought they’d call the game. However as we moved through the 3 PM hour there appeared to be a window of opportunity, and play eventually resumed at 4:10 east coast time.

Luckily for the Birds, they picked up right where they left off. Paul Janish’s RBI-single in the second inning gave the O’s a 4-0 lead. Toronto cut that to 4-1 on Kawasaki’s fielder’s choice-RBI in the fourth, but one inning later Reimold’s RBI-single put the O’s up 5-1. And then Manny struck again in the sixth. His 33rd home run of the year gave the Orioles a 6-1 lead, which in theory should have done Toronto in…

…but tell Toronto that. They got an RBI-single from Diaz and a two-RBI double from Carrera in the seventh, cutting the lead to 6-4. And even though they were playing their “B squad” yesterday, part of why they won the AL East is because they find ways to inch back into games. Even games that were previously out of reach.

But at the end of the day, a 6-1 lead was too difficult to overcome all the way. The Orioles cruised to a 6-4 victory on a day that lasted much longer than it should have. For what it’s worth, a decision hasn’t yet been made about tonight’s game or any of the others this weekend. The mid-Atlantic region is expected to get nailed by a nor’easter today and all day tomorrow (before the arrival of Hurricane Joachim, which at this point appears to be a dimished threat). The University of Maryland moved their football game to a noon kickoff tomorrow as opposed to 8 PM – so time will tell if the Birds opt to act similarly.

The Orioles are scheduled to take on New York tonight in game one of three – which is the final series of the year. Wei-Yin Chen will make what could end up being his final start as an Oriole (if he flies the coup this off season). He’ll be opposed by Luis Severino. Game time is scheduled for just after 7 PM.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Hidden advantage on Chris Davis?

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