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The Baltimore Orioles took over the Washington Nationals in the 11th inning and took game one in the “Battle of the Beltway”, 8-2. The Orioles had only managed two runs in the first 10 innings, until their bats came alive and hit three home-runs in the 11th frame.
Left fielder Nelson Cruz got the scoring started in the fourth inning with a one out opposite field shot that gave the Orioles the 2-0 lead against hurler Stephen Strasburg. It was Cruz’s 28th long ball of the season; this put him back in first place in home-runs in the league. Strasburg would eventually settle down and finished the day with nine strikeouts and two runs on four hits in seven innings, but would settle for a no-decision.
O’s starter Chris Tillman outpitched the Nat’s young ace, until the sixth inning when Second-Baseman Anthony Rendon swung at the first pitch he saw and tied the game up at two with his 13th homer of the year. Tillman would also get the no-decision, going seven innings as well, while giving up two runs on five hits and six strikeouts.
After the sixth inning, both sides did not show much energy offensively until the bottom of the ninth, when the Nationals had men on first and second with none out. Ryan Zimmerman doubled with one out and Bryce Harper was intentionally walked. However, Baltimore reliever Darren O’Day, who had also pitched the 8th, would strike out both Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos to end the inning.
Finally, the eleventh inning came for the Orioles, and they seemed like a completely different team. Cruz would get the inning started with a shattered bat single off Nats’ reliever Craig Stammen. Slumping slugger Chris Davis, who saw his average dip below .200 in his prior at bat, lifted the O’s with a full-count, two-run shot to right-center field. It was his 14th of the year, and his first hit in his last 12 at-bats.
The O’s were not done there, as J.J. Hardy would make it back-to-back homers and give Baltimore the 5-2 lead. Catcher Nick Hundley followed that with a single, and, after a strikeout by Jonathan Schoop and a sacrifice bunt from reliever T.J. McFarland, right-fielder Nick Markakis doubled in Hundley to make it 6-2. If that was not enough insurance for the O’s, Manny Machado followed with his career-high fifth hit of the night, a home run to left field off of Aaron Barrett, to make it 8-2. McFarland would stay in and face four batters in the bottom half of the eleventh to give the O’s a 49-40 record.
It was a great bounce-back performance by the Orioles’ pen, as they had allowed five runs the previous day in Boston. In Monday night’s opener, O’Day and McFarland combined for four innings, striking out six and allowing only two hits and two walks.
In the last three games, the Orioles have scored a combined 22 runs on 47 hits. Cruz has gone 11-16 in those games, driving in five runs. The win kept the Orioles in first place, and with the loss by the Toronto Blue Jays last night; they moved three games into first in the A.L. East.
The Nationals stayed a half game behind the Atlanta Braves in the N.L. East, as the Braves also lost. The Nats will look to have a better result in Tuesday’s match-up with the Orioles, as they will send Doug Fister to the mound to face Bud Norris. Fister is having a great year, pitching to a 7-2 record with a 2.93 ERA. Norris will have his first start since coming off of the disabled list, but he also has a respectable mark with a 3.62 ERA, going 7-5.
A.J. Risser is a writer for Couch Rider Report. Make sure you follow him on Twitter.