The playoff push for the Orioles continued last night in Boston and they kept pace in the wild card hunt with a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox last night. As we all know, the Birds are fighting to play in October and despite only being about a .500 team since the All-Star break, they are still in thick of things.
They broke a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning, thanks to a Danny Valencia triple against former Oriole Koji Uehara, followed up by a Matt Wieters’ sacrifice fly. Chris Davis hit his franchise record 51st homer in the sixth inning, and Brian Roberts in the fifth plated in a run via groundout.
The Orioles didn’t play the cleanest of games and Scott Feldman – who started the game – was closer to awful than mediocre; however, Oriole magic came through late and the bullpen delivered when counted upon. Tommy Hunter got the win; meanwhile, Jim Johnson earned his 46th save.
Once again, the starting pitching was awful and they could not get anyone across the plate until late.
However, they got the job done and have managed to stay afloat for a wild card spot. A lot of the flukish things that happened last year to make 2012 Orioles a team to remember has not taken place; however, the 2013 Orioles are a very good team, but consistency is key this squad.
This team has been up and down. At times, I have wondered how they and teams like the Yankees have managed to stick around in the playoff hunt. Then again, the Orioles – much like last year’s squad – has been resilient and when their backs are against the wall, they manage to overcome.
They have two more games against Boston and have to make it all count.
Sadly, the Birds didn’t gain much ground on the night in terms of the wild card hunt. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays and now Texas Rangers (who have been nothing short of awful in the past week) by two games.
The Cleveland Indians – who are very much for real now as a contender – trail both the Rays and Rangers by ½ a game.
I see the whole American League wild card race shaping up to be a dog fight until the very end with a lot of fluidity.
The Orioles just have to keep on winning and stay on a roll. In the end, they will probably need a lot of help and a final winning streak in the last week-and-a-half of the season.
