– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — To paraphrase Yogi Berra, things were shaping up to be déjà vu all over again for the Baltimore Orioles for a second consecutive night … that was until Dylan Beavers made sure of a different — and satisfying — outcome just in the nick of time.
Beavers hit a two-out walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as the Orioles defeated the Atlanta Braves 3-2 inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Saturday night. The Orioles, who lost in extra innings last night, have now won nine of their last 12 games, sitting just 2 1/2 games back of the final American League Wild Card berth and playing their best baseball just a week before the trade deadline, where Baltimore is still on the fence whether to be aggressive in the open market or otherwise.
“I think everyone’s aware of [the trade deadline], but typically, it’s just kind of a, ‘Go win the day,’ mentality. Show up every day and take that game,” Beavers said. “I think everyone in this clubhouse believes we can be really good. We just need to be better more consistently, all around. We’re all kind of in agreement on that.”
Less than 24 hours ago, the Orioles led 3-2 going into the eighth inning before Baltimore reliever Rico Garcia allowed a game-tying solo home run to Drake Baldwin that eventually forced extra innings, where Atlanta scored four in the 10th on its way to a 7-6 victory. Once more, Garcia took the mound tonight in the eight inning with a one-run lead and again allowed a solo homer, this time to Ozzie Albies, to level the score.
The Orioles had their chances to win last night yet failed to do so because they left 10 men on base, and it looked as if another opportunity would go by the boards in the bottom of the ninth tonight. With one out, Jackson Holliday doubled off Atlanta right-hander Didier Fuentes, then moved to third on a warning-track flyout by Colton Cowser. That set the stage for Beavers, who had two previous walk-off hits in his two-year MLB career – a single in a 2-1, 10-inning win vs. the Pirates last Sept. 10 and a homer in a 6-5 win vs. the Rays last Sept. 25.
Beavers hit a sharp ground ball into right field and past a diving Albies at second base on the first pitch from Fuentes to cue the celebrations.
“It’s exciting to help the team win, whether it’s a walk-off or in the fifth inning. I think it’s all great,” Beavers said. “But yeah, it’s exciting when your whole team gets behind you and everyone’s fired up.”
The Orioles’ resurgence has mostly been on the back of their stellar starting pitching of late, and that continued as Brandon Young allowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA on the season to 3.13.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with photos taken by staff photographer Michael R. Smith. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 29 pictures in total.
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