Baltimore Orioles: Cleveland rocked by Nolan Reimold

Nolan Reimold gave the Baltimore Orioles a series sweep of Cleveland with a two-run walk off homer in the last of the ninth inning.

Conventional wisdom might have dictated that the Baltimore Orioles would have used Nolan Reimold as a pinch-runner for Pedro Alvarez at second base yesterday afternoon in the last of the ninth inning. Alvarez represented the winning run in a 3-3 tie. However manager Buck Showalter held Reimold back so as to use him as a pinch hitter. The Camden faithful rose in anticipation as he strode to the plate…

But well before that, Vance Worley gave the Orioles a great outing that was well worthy of a win. Worley’s line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K. The two runs Worley gave up came in the fourth inning on an RBI-double, and a sac fly. Other than that, he held a decent offensive team in Cleveland at bay. This was possibly his best day as an Oriole to this point.

The O’s started to take the game back in the last of the fourth on Manny Machado‘s RBI-single, cutting the lead to 2-1. Alvarez later grounded into a double-play, however he hustled down the line and appeared to be safe at first. With a runner on third base, the Orioles challenged the play – and the call was overturned. That allowed the runner to score from third base, and the game was tied at two. 

One inning later in the fifth, Jonathan Schoop‘s solo home run gave the Birds a 3-2 lead. WIth the way that Worley was pitching, it appeared that might do the trick. However a Napoli RBI-single in the eighth inning tied the game at three, and gave Cleveland some new life. Cleveland is a good team – like the Orioles, they’re going to fight to the end.

The Birds started to threaten again in thelast of the eighth. With Machado at first base, Chris Davis took a ball three…however he thought it was ball four. He started to go to first base, which confused Machado. In the midst of the confusion, Machado was caught off of first base and was thrown out. This was more a mistkae on Davis’ part than on that of Machado, but it all but ran the Orioles out of a chance to get the lead back.

However an inning later in the last of the ninth the universe paid the Orioles back in a sense. Pedro Alvarez struck out, and the ball got by the catcher. However it hit the brick facade behind home plate, and bounced right back to him – when he threw to first base, his throw hit Alvarez who was automatically ruled safe as a result. Alvarez moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, which brought Reimold up as a pinch hitter.

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…you had the feeling that something was going to happen. Even though Alvarez wasn’t the speediest runner, a base hit should in theory allow him to score and end the game. Reimold took two pithces out of the zone, and then sat on a fastball on 2-0. That fastball came – and then suddenly it was gone. It was gone deep into the Baltimore afternoon, and it finished up in the grandstand.

Reimold’s walk off pinch-hit homer gave the O’s a series sweep over Cleveland, and kept them in first place by 1.5 games. When asked about his decision to use Reimold as a pinch hitter instead of a runner, Buck Showalter said that hitting coaches had been working with Reimold for a few days on some things (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

"I know the hitting coaches said they’ve been working on a couple things the last couple days and think he’s real close. I think the key to it was laying off two breaking balls where you get into a hitter’s count and get a fastball."

Translated, he used Reimold as he did on a whim. And Showalter’s the type of manager that will pull a stunt like that on occasion. If the conventional wisdom just doesn’t feel right at that moment, he might do something else. In this case he did, and it really paid off.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez on the trade block?

The Birds will now open up a three-game interleague series at home with Colorado. Yovani Gallardo gets the start for the O’s in game one this evening, and he’ll be opposed by Colorado’s Jorge De La Rosa. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.