Baltimore Orioles: Slug Their Way Into the Postseason

The Baltimore Orioles needed a hero and they came away with a few after Sunday’s game with the New York Yankees. The Orioles defeated the New York Yankees, 5-2.

Matt Wieters was the main hero for the Baltimore Orioles, blasting two home runs during this particular division matchup. Wieters hit one homer while batting left-handed against Yankees starter, Luis Cessa in the top of the fourth inning. Wieters thrashed the pitch into the second deck in right field.

Batting right-handed, Wieters smacked Yankees reliever Tommy Layne’s fastball near the left field foul pole in the sixth inning.

Wieters became the first Oriole in 20 years to hit a home run from both sides of the plate during the same game. Roberto Alomar was the last one to do it on July 25, 1996, against the Cleveland Indians.

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He was very excited about the Baltimore Orioles making their third postseason berth in five seasons.

“It’s a great achievement,” said Wieters, during the celebration of the Orioles’ postseason berth. “We had to play down to 162, and we played every one of those games. We’ll relish it tonight. This is the greatest feeling you can have as a baseball player, part of a team celebration in the clubhouse. Nothing better than this.”

The catcher wasn’t the only Oriole to have a great game. Kevin Gausman only gave up two runs against the Yankees, continuing his dominance against the boys from the Bronx. Gausman is 6-3 with a 1.92 ERA against New York in his career. He is 3-1 with a 1.10 ERA this season against the Bronx Bombers. Baltimore Orioles manager, Buck Showalter, would praise Gausman.

“Kevin looked like a guy that wanted the ball,” Showalter said. “He’s had that body language of that guy. I say to the minor league scouts all the time, does he have ‘it’? And they all know what we’re talking about. Kevin’s graduated to the right part of the process. He’s been fun to watch. We needed him today and he delivered.”

Gausman (9-12), gave up eight hits and only had three strikeouts, but he induced 13 ground balls, keeping the ball in the park in the most part. Brian McCann did connect on one home run against Gausman, otherwise, he was dominant.

J.J. Hardy also had a sac fly in the Baltimore Orioles’ defeat of the Yankees. Also, Zach Britton slammed the door shut on the Yankees’ collective fingers by striking out Ronald Torreyes, making Billy Butler ground out to the mound and struck out Brett Gardner to finish off the game. Britton is now 47-for-47 in save opportunities this season, thrusting him in front of the AL Cy Young conversation.

Next: O's Late Inning Collapse Keeps Wild Card Close

As for the postseason, the Baltimore Orioles will play against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday in Toronto:

Date: October 4, 2016

Place: Toronto, Ontario

Time: 8:08 p.m. EDT

Channel: TBS