Baltimore Orioles stun Texas Rangers 5-1 in American League Wild Card game – MLB Update
Baltimore Orioles stunned the Texas Rangers with an astonishing 5-1 win at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas on Friday, October 5 in American League Wild Card game.
It was an impressive performance from the Orioles who have given some impressive performances since the start of the season. Not many expected the Orioles to make it to the playoffs season but they have proved their critics wrong by making the most of opportunities
they were given.
Despite being under immense pressure, the Orioles executed their game plan to perfection on Friday to make it to the playoffs. Manager Buck Showalter will be extremely pleased with what he saw from his men in a must win game. It will be interesting to see
if Orioles can continue their good work in the playoffs to end their World Series drought.
"With our team, it's just a bunch of guys that raised the bar and wouldn't give in and still haven't. Now they get a chance to win to roll the dice, and there's a lot of good card players in there," said Showalter, their manager.
"Real proud of everybody. Tacking on runs were big, knew they were going to run at you," Showalter said. "But just a real proud moment for us.”
Starting pitcher Joe Saunders produced a match winning performance for the Orioles as he gave up just six hits and one run in five plus solid innings to make quick work of Texas’ batting line-up.
Striking-out batters at crucial moments, he kept Rangers on the defensive. Relief pitchers Darren O’Day, Brian Matusz and Jim Johnson combined to pitch three plus shut-out innings to give Orioles a memorable victory.
J.J. Hardy provided Orioles with an excellent start as he singled to centre in the first inning to score the first run. Adam Jones hit a sacrifice fly to right in the sixth and Nate McLouth singled to shallow left in the seventh to give Orioles a crucial
3-1 lead.
Manny Machado and McLouth drove in vital runs in the bottom of the ninth to deny Rangers any chance of coming back into the contest.
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