Bud Norris gave the Orioles 6.1 innings of two-hit baseball, striking out six en route to a 2-1 ALDS-clinching victory today. The O's, who were treated as something of an underdog, swept the Tigers despite facing the last three Cy Young Award winners in succession. Thursday was Max Scherzer. Friday they outlasted Justin Verlander. And this afternoon, they bested old Tampa Bay nemesis David Price. Price flinched before postseason novice Norris, as Nelson Cruz hooked a fly ball just inside the right field foul pole with Adam Jones aboard to give Baltimore a 2-0 lead. Zach Britton made things tense by yielding back-to-back doubles to the Martinezes to begin the ninth, but closed out the one-run win with a double play grounder off the bat of questionable pinch hitter Hernan Perez.
Kansas City is five outs away from wrapping up an even more surprising ALDS sweep of the 98-win Angels. If that result holds, the Orioles will have home field advantage in the American League Championship Series and will host the Royals in the opener on Friday. The Birds are four wins away from a return to the World Series.
2 comments:
Somewhere Earl Weaver was watching, smoking, and having Don Stanhouse flashbacks.
My football weekend was a disaster but I'm on a real high right now.
Bob - I left football behind this year, since the NFL at large, and my team in particular, are so tone deaf. I was getting burned out on the year-round hype of it all, anyhow.
The Orioles are helping me transition to a football-free life in the best way.
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