Matt Wieters, 2013 Panini Pinnacle #59

Can we talk about what Matt Wieters did on his 30th birthday Saturday night? Things looked pretty dire for the Orioles offensively all night, as Angels starter Matt Shoemaker and his 8.49 ERA shut them down into the eighth inning on just three hits. The O's whiffed 12 times against Shoemaker, didn't draw any walks, and put nobody on base until Wieters doubled with two outs in the fifth inning. It looked like Kevin Gausman would be saddled with a hard-luck loss after the O's righty gave up a two-out single to Yunel Escobar in the home half of the seventh for the game's only run. Angels closer Joe Smith quickly notched two outs in the top of the ninth, but the Birds clung to life as Chris Davis grounded a single through the middle of the infield and Mark Trumbo drew a full-count walk. That brought Wieters to the plate, and he jumped on the second pitch he saw from Smith. Earl Weaver Special, Orioles take a 3-1 lead, and that would be the final score despite an unusually wild performance by Zach Britton in the bottom of the ninth. It's always a special thrill to pull out a victory at the last possible moment.

Manny Machado, 2013 Panini Pinnacle #163

My reward for sticking out last night's 10-inning, three-hour and 22-minute slog of an Orioles game was that I got to see history. For the first time ever, the O's won on a walkoff passed ball. Caleb Joseph started the rally with a two-out double, and Joey Rickard's infield single (his third hit of the night) and Manny Machado's walk loaded the bases for Adam Jones. The center fielder took ball one from rookie reliever Joe Biagini, fouled off a pitch, and then took a second pitch. That one squirted away from Toronto catcher Josh Thole, and Caleb dashed home with the winning run. It's always fun to see somebody get doused with a celebratory cooler full of water for scoring on a catcher's mishap.

Machado continued his hot start with two hits and an RBI in addition to his two walks, as he's now kicked off the 2016 season with a 14-game hit streak and counting. At the end of last night's game, his batting line was a robust .407/.467/.796. Oh, and he's doing a fairly bangup job with the glove and arm at third base as well. Basically, I'm ready for the Birds to give Manny as much money as it takes to keep him in Baltimore for years to come.

Wei-Yin Chen, 2013 Panini Pinnacle #77

Well, that was unpleasant. The Orioles have their first series loss of the season and their first losing streak. The Red Sox, as loath as I am to admit it, are a pretty good team. They didn't win the 2013 World Series by accident. In 27 tries over these first three games of the season, Baltimore pitchers had one 1-2-3 inning. Wei-Yin Chen suffered death by a thousand paper cuts tonight, giving up four runs on 11 singles and a double. The Birds continued their opening-series offensive torpor, scraping together three runs before being blanked in the final three innings. There's still 159 games left to go, and tomorrow's another day. Off to Detroit.