Manny Machado helps Baltimore Orioles edge Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 – MLB Update
Baltimore Orioles put up another strong show as they edged the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday, September 13 in third game of their three match series.
Orioles, once again, took complete advantage of their opponents’ unforced errors, completing an emphatic series sweep in front of their home crowd. Manager Buck Showalter has his team playing aggressive and it seems to be paying off for them during this
crucial part of the regular season.
Starting pitcher Wei Yin Chen had another excellent outing as he gave up just two runs and eight hits in seven plus on-target innings to lay the foundations of an impressive Orioles’ victory.
Relief pitchers Darren O’Day, Jim Johnson, Luis Ayala, Brian Matusz and Tommy Hunter combined to pitch six plus scoreless innings to keep the Rays on the defensive.
Closer Randy Wolf grabbed his second win of the season after he successfully held off Tampa Bay in the 14th.
Jeff Keppinger provided the Rays with an early 1-0 lead. Orioles’ catcher Taylor Teagarden doubled to deep right in the seventh innings to put Orioles 2-1 ahead. Ben Zobrist showed great composure under pressure, reaching on an infield single to third to
level the score 2-2.
Manny Machado broke the tie with an RBI single to left in the extra inning as the Orioles swept the Ray for the first time since 1997.
"There's a bigger goal in mind," manager Buck Showalter said. "That wasn't the goal from Day One this spring. Really, Day One of the offseason. It's watching other teams for years and saying, 'We want to do what they're doing.' We'd like to get a chair at
the dance, you know?"
"I'm having a blast," Machado said. "This team is great to be around. It's a great group of guys. We're all excited. We're all having one goal, which is make the playoffs."
"We came up short that inning," Machado said, "but we won it in the next."
Right now, Baltimore is placed first at the top of the American League East Division standings table. It will be interesting to see if Showalter and company can stay focused to snap their streak of 14 consecutive losing seasons.
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