Baltimore Orioles Walk Off Behind Davis, Gonzalez

May 29, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez (50) pitches during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles, despite being just one game under .500, find themselves tied for second in the AL East after a thrilling 2-1 win Friday night.

Well, that was fun.

Miguel Gonzalez made one mistake on Friday night, a solo home run by Steven Souza Jr.  The rest of the night, he was on point.  8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO. That is a really good outing.

No matter that the Rays have an offense as good as my high school baseball team, which admittedly wasn’t very good. The Rays’ offense is in shambles. But, they are a major league team, and a win is a win. And man, do they have some fantastic starting pitching.

The Orioles could do nothing against Rays’ starter Nathan Karns.  But, once he was out of the game, Chris Davis quickly tied the game by hitting a big fly to the flag court over the scoreboard.

The ninth inning got a little hairy.  Darren O’Day loaded the bases with no, count ’em, no outs. But two strikeouts and a ground ball later and the offense went to work.

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This time, it was small ball to get the run in. Travis Snider singled, and then Everth Cabrera pinch ran for him. He moved to third on a ball down the line by Chris Davis, to bring up J.J. Hardy.

And J.J. came through, slashing a single past one of the best third basemen in the game, Evan Longoria.

To think, less than a week ago I was calling for changes to be made to the Orioles’ roster here. But, I think that might be part of the resurgence.  The Orioles made those moves.

I thought that Steve Clevenger should be called up for Ryan Lavarnway. That happened. Lavarnway is gone, opting to become a free agent.  What the Orioles do in a week when Matt Wieters comes back with Clevenger is a mystery, as he will likely be sent down.

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Then, Alejandro De Aza was designated for assignment.  This was a move that was a bigger move. It showed that what the Orioles have been doing, particularly the play in the outfield, is not good enough.

Since, David Lough has received more playing time. And has been getting hits, and making plays in the outfield that other players would not make.

I thought that Nolan Reimold should be called up, and I think that is going to happen soon. Three of the four moves I thought should be made.

The last one was for Mike Wright to stay in the rotation and Bud Norris to be sent to the bullpen.  I think this is still going to happen as well. Bud is still not pitching well in the minors. He only has one more start left in the minors before he will return to the team.  But, with Wright pitching well and Norris struggling against minor league competition, I think Bud needs to go in the bullpen.

The Orioles have shown they aren’t afraid to make moves, and now they are making moves up toward the top of the AL East.