– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — When the Baltimore Orioles saw victory snatched from them at the very last moment on Saturday afternoon, the stage was also set for yet another dramatic victory in Birdland, and the possibility that an unsung hero could be the one who keeps the feel-good story of the 2023 Orioles chugging along the tracks — especially given that the hero of today’s game, up to that point, would take no further part in the contest.
Cue Mike Baumann. And, most certainly, cue Ryan McKenna.
The reserve outfielder smacked his second home run of the season into the right field bleachers in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Orioles to a 6-4 walk-off win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday to end a two-game losing streak. Anthony Santander put Baltimore in a position to win with a 4-for-4 afternoon at the plate, including hitting his 13th homer of the season in the third inning.
McKenna’s blast was just the sixth home run in his career, and he was given the opportunity to come through in the clutch only when he came in as a defensive replacement for Santander in right field to begin the ninth inning. It ended up being his unlikely thunderbolt on offense that ended up saving the day for Baltimore.
Baltimore saw its usually reliable closer, Félix Bautista, allow his first home run of the season, a game-tying solo shot by Mike Ford with two outs in the top of the ninth, to even the game at 4-4. It was Ford’s second home run of the contest, as he and J.P. Crawford hit solo homers in the second inning to give Seattle a 2-1 lead.
Mike Baumann took the mound to begin the 10th for the Orioles, and had the daunting task of facing the heart of the Seattle order with the automatic runner on second base to begin the inning. Baumann made sure that runner (Kolten Wong) at second base did not move any further along the base paths before the Orioles got their chance in the bottom of the inning, getting J.P. Crawford to ground out to Baumann before striking out Julio Rodriguez and Ty France to end the half inning.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Elliott Brown. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 33 pictures in total.
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