O’s reward affected person followers with thrilling walk-off win

BALTIMORE — Anthony Santander and his Orioles teammates stepped out onto the soggy area at Camden Yards on Friday night time a bit later than ordinary. A rain delay of two hours and 32 minutes pushed again the beginning of the opener between the Yankees and O’s, who had been taking part in in entrance of their house followers for the primary time this yr because the first-place workforce within the American League East.

Much of the introduced crowd of 34,558 caught round for the sport. Too a lot concern of lacking out. Too many thrilling moments had already taken place in downtown Baltimore over the primary 4 months of the 2023 season, and these folks didn’t need to doubtlessly miss the subsequent one.

“Honestly, right before the start of the game, it felt like a playoff game, right away,” Santander mentioned.

Again, the Orioles performed a tense postseason-like contest. Again, they discovered a method to win it.

After 8 1/2 innings of scoreless baseball, Santander despatched the energetic, orange-clad supporters house blissful. With one out within the backside of the ninth, he blasted a walk-off house run to deep right-center area, lifting Baltimore, 1-0, in its twentieth one-run win and fifth shutout victory of the season.

There was little doubt Santander bought all of a low 2-0 changeup thrown by New York right-hander Tommy Kahnle. The 28-year-old outfielder clubbed the providing a Statcast-projected 425 ft at an exit velocity of 107.9 mph for his team-high 18th house run of the season — his third profession walk-off hit and second game-ending homer.

Santander adopted by means of on his swing, casually flipped his bat and flexed his muscle tissue at his teammates within the first-base dugout.

“I put a good swing on it, and I said, ‘I got it,’” Santander mentioned. “I looked right to my teammates.”

As the clock learn 12:12 a.m. ET, Santander trotted across the bases and met these teammates at house plate. He tossed his helmet, obtained a Gatorade bathtub and celebrated the Orioles’ fifth walk-off victory of the season as the group roared in pleasure on the thrilling conclusion.

“Tonight was pretty special,” right-hander Grayson Rodriguez mentioned. “I’m glad the O’s fans stayed. I know it was a late one, but man, it was exciting.”

It was an particularly particular night time for Rodriguez, whose thirteenth massive league begin was his finest but. He accomplished six innings for the primary time and dazzled over 6 1/3 terrific frames, going toe to toe with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

Rodriguez allowed three hits and two walks whereas putting out 4, discovering success with a easy, aggressive strategy — throw a variety of fastballs and a variety of strikes. The 23-year-old right-hander tossed 55 four-seamers and situated 70 of his 97 pitches for strikes.

The Yankees had been equally aggressive, swinging 54 occasions in opposition to Rodriguez. His heater proved to be an excessive amount of, although, as he induced eight whiffs with the pitch, which averaged 98.3 mph and touched 100.4. He threw 4 tougher than 100 mph after hitting triple digits solely six earlier occasions (all on July 17 vs. the Dodgers, the primary of his three outings since coming back from a demotion to the Minors).

“So proud of Grayson,” supervisor Brandon Hyde mentioned. “He’s just scratching the surface of what kind of starting pitcher he can be. He showed tonight what he has — it’s an overpowering fastball, slider’s getting better and better, bad swings on his changeup. Just presence and command against a really tough lineup.”

In a well-pitched, well-played sport on each side, Cole was equally spectacular. He blanked the Orioles for seven innings and allowed three hits, all singles.

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s protection behind Rodriguez and its relievers stored it within the sport.

Gold Glove third baseman Ramón Urías made a diving cease for the ultimate out of the fifth to retire Anthony Volpe — who was robbed once more through a sprawling catch in proper area by Santander within the eighth.

Adam Frazier made a pair of good stops at second base, laying out to retire Ben Rortvedt for the ultimate out of the third and Anthony Rizzo to finish the eighth. The latter prevented a run from scoring, as New York stranded a pair within the inning.

“Our defense has been phenomenal,” Rodriguez mentioned. “It’s hands down the best in the league right now. Every night, there are spectacular plays being made.”

Added Hyde: “Defense won us the game.”

It all set the stage for Santander, who has been in Baltimore for all seven of his massive league seasons — none extra enjoyable than the current one.

The AL-best Orioles (63-40) have a chance this weekend to perform one thing they haven’t completed since 2016: win a season sequence vs. the Yankees. So far, Baltimore is 6-5 in opposition to New York with solely two conferences remaining — Saturday and Sunday, which shall be broadcast on ESPN for Sunday Night Baseball.

If these video games are something like Friday’s contest, Orioles supporters will need to be right here.

“The O’s fans packed a lot of energy in the ballpark tonight. Man, that was electric,” Rodriguez mentioned. “That was a lot of fun. By far the best environment I’ve ever pitched in, hands down. Hats off to the fans tonight.”