The Baltimore Orioles would take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the first game of a three-game set. Jeremy Hellickson would take the mound for Baltimore, where he has gone 1-2, with a 4.50 ERA.
BALTIMORE, Md. — Hellickson would see himself fall behind the eight ball very quickly. The Angels would put up three runs in the first inning.
First, Albert Pujols (18) took Hellickson deep with Ben Revere on. Then in the next at-bat, Kole Calhoun would hit a solo blast (15), putting Los Angeles up 3-0. Their assault on Baltimore would not stop there. C.J. Cron (10) and Kaleb Cowart (2) also homered, adding two more runs to Los Angeles’ lead.
Baltimore would begin to claw back in the bottom of the second inning with a home run (19) from Mark Trumbo. The Orioles would do more damage in the bottom of the third. Caleb Joseph tagged a solo shot to left field (8). Manny Machado would follow that up with a home run (24) of his own, plating Tim Beckham as well.
The pendulum swung back into the direction of the Angels in the top of the fifth inning. Mike Trout, who came into the game with a .340 batting average, continued his onslaught with a home run (24) to left field. Revere scored for Los Angeles.
Baltimore would answer back in the bottom of the fifth inning. Machado would hit his second home run of the game (25), bringing the Angels’ lead down to 7-5. Baltimore would flail around with their bats for rest of the game, until the ninth inning.
The bottom of the ninth was magical for Baltimore. Anthony Santander picked up his first major league hit. Joseph would strike out, but Seth Smith got on with a pinch-hit walk. Tim Beckham loaded the bases with a single to right field. Then, Machado came to the plate. With two home runs already, Machado was out for more blood. Machado hit a game-winning grand slam (26) to put the Orioles up 9-7.
“I got it,” Machado said of his thoughts when hitting the grand slam. “I was looking for a pitch and I got it. Made a good swing on it… off of the bat, I knew it was gonna go far. Like I said, it’s always good to get yourself in a situation where you can get the team the W. We’re going to try to go for it.”
The Orioles were the winners of their first game of the series, but must take on the Angels again. Baltimore currently sits just two games back of Los Angeles, who is tied for the second AL Wild Card spot with the Minnesota Twins.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter elaborated on how important Friday night’s game was. However, he believes that his team needs to continue to fight and not give any ground.
“You don’t think about what it might of meant because you play again tomorrow, you play again the next day and there’s an opportunity at every corner, but it has that potential, always.” Showalter said after watching his team claw back for the victory. “But depending on how we pitch tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day.
You can’t ask a club to overcome that every night, but our guys have done a good job with it. Especially tonight, obviously.”
GAME NOTES:
Tonight’s walk-off grand slam by Machado was the eighth walk-off hit win of the season for Baltimore. It was also Baltimore’s sixth grand slam of the season. The Orioles were able to tie their home run season-high total of five tonight.
Baltimore’s five home runs allowed also tied a season-high. Baltimore is standing 2-2 against the Angels on the season and improve to 36-23 at home.
Darren O’Day earned the win. He went 1.1 innings without giving up a run on two hits and one strikeout. He is now 2-3 on the season and owns a 4.17 ERA.
(Photo Credit: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
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