The Baltimore Wire
Fansided

Baltimore Orioles: Chris Davis’ Six Career Grand Slams

By Randy Buchman

facebooktwitterreddit

Aug 5, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis (19) hits a grand slam against the Oakland Athletics during the tenth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Oakland Athletics 7-3 in extra innings. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles were in a precarious position on Wednesday night in Oakland. The series was tied, the game was tied, and a loss would be pretty devastating at the beginning stop in the three-city West Coast road trip that simply HAS TO go well for the Birds. And even though the A’s are no offensive Goliath, at some point even they are going to squib a ball through the infield with a runner in scoring position.

But Chris Davis, in one swing in the eighth inning, gave the O’s a four-run lead with Zach Britton pitching. That’s a game-winner.

Probably the vast majority of grand slams in the careers of sluggers have been game-changing, critical, highlight-moment-of-the-game types of hits. After all, four runs is a lot on one swing. We so frequently hear (with statistical support to vindicate the analysis) that four runs in a game is a key indicator of a team moving from a loss to a win.

This was the sixth career grand slam for Davis, and all of them have come since he joined the Baltimore Orioles. How many of the other five were game-changing slams that were definitive moments in winning a game for the O’s?  Let’s look at them:

Grand Slam #1 — July 31, 2012

The first of Davis’ bases-emptying long balls was off Ivan Nova of the Yankees in New York. It was the final scoring part of a seven-run uprising in the second inning. The Yankees had scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning off Chris Tillman — the only runs they would get in the game (Tillman went five innings for the win).

At the moment Davis hit the slam, the Orioles were trailing 5-3.  The 7-5 lead would be expanded to an 11-5 victory. The win was the third in a row, while it was the fourth straight loss for the Yankees. It would bring the second place Orioles to within 5.5 games of the Yankees in first place.

Grand Slam #2 — April 5, 2013

This second grand slam was a part of Davis’ incredible start of the 2013 season with 53 homers. It was hit off Tyler Robertson of the Twins in the bottom of the eighth inning, breaking a 5-5 tie. The Orioles shut down Minnesota in the ninth inning for a 9-5 victory.

This was the fourth home run of the season for Davis and was hit in the fourth game of the O’s 2013 campaign, making them 3-1 at that time.

Grand Slam #3 — June 17, 2014

More from Baltimore Orioles

It was off former Oriole Erik Bedard (of the Rays) that Davis hit this third career grand slam. In the top of the fourth inning, it blew open a game that had a 1-0 Orioles lead. The O’s would eventually win the game 7-5, so it was without doubt the biggest blow of the contest.

At this point of the 2014 season, 70 games into it, the win held the Orioles above .500 at 36-34.

Grand Slam #4 — August 29, 2014

This round-tripper was hit off Trevor May of the Twins. Hit in the top of the fourth inning with the O’s leading 1-0, it blew open the game as Baltimore won by a final score of 9-1. At this time, Davis was batting seventh in the lineup because he was carrying a .189 average. Yes this is a much better season for Crush.

Grand Slam #5 — July 25th, 2015

The most recent of Chris Davis’ grand slams was hit just 12 days ago against the Tampa Bay Rays and Erasmo Ramirez. It was driven out in the top of the third inning in a game that was scoreless. Davis was the DH in this game and was batting second in the lineup. The final score was 5-1, so it was a homer that made the difference in the game – literally.

Contributing to the significance of this particular grand slam is that the Orioles were 5-15 over the previous 20 games.

Beginning with this Rays game, the O’s have been 9-3 since then. Davis, over these 12 games, is 13-for-44 (.295) with seven home runs and 23 RBIs.

Summary — So all six of the Chris Davis grand slams have been hit in Orioles victories, and all six of them were critical blows in the game that broke the other team.

With the bases loaded, Davis has a career average of .319 (22-for-69) with four doubles, six homers, and a total of 63 RBIs.

So it is simple for the Orioles, just load the bases ahead of Chris Davis. It’s a winning combination. Just do it.

Next: Davis slam saves more than just a game

More from The Baltimore Wire

Home/Baltimore Orioles