Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE
The Baltimore Orioles must really enjoy playing extra-inning games because they played their 17th extra-inning affair against the Seattle Mariners last night, winning on an Adam Jones homerun in the top of the 11th inning by a score of 3-1. That homerun was the 30th of the year for Jones and with it he became the first Oriole outfielder to hit 30 or more homeruns in a season since Brady Anderson did it in 1996, when he hit 50.
Speaking of statistics, records, and whatnot – this was the 15th consecutive extra-inning victory for the Orioles and they are now 15-2 in extra-innings this year. The all-time record for most consecutive extra-inning victories is currently 19 in a row, held by the 1949 Cleveland Indians.
Now the Orioles record sits at 85-64, they are just half a game behind the New York Yankees for the American League East, and are now leading the Oakland Athletics by half a game for the first wild-card spot. Life is pretty good if you are the Orioles or an Orioles fan – am I right?
Another good thing for the team right now is that after having played back-to-back extra-inning games, they finally get a day off (today). Their next day off doesn’t come for another seven days and they may need it with that double-header against the Toronto Blue Jays coming up after we get out of Boston.
Even though the Boston Red Sox and the Blue Jays each have losing records they always manage to play the Orioles tough and I’m sure neither are going to go easy on the Birds. Especially the Red Sox considering the Orioles were the ones that completed Boston’s epic collapse last season by beating them 4-3.
The Curse of the Andino lives on!
Finally, we end the season with a three game series against the Tampa Bay Rays – and while they are essentially out of the playoff race at this point, they are still a dangerous enough team to cost us a division title or wild-card spot.
There’s a huge difference between winning the division outright and having to go in as one of the two wild-card teams, in case you weren’t aware.
If the Orioles win their division they would go on to play the AL Central division winner in the ALDS, but if they go in as a wild-card they would have to do the play-in game against the other wild-card winner (most likely the A’s) and then travel to Texas to take on the Texas Rangers.
Trust me – we want to win the AL East.
