Baltimore Orioles power past A’s, gain ground in AL Wild Card standings
Baltimore Orioles rookie Trey Mancini smashes two home runs and southpaw Wade Miley gets through seven innings as Orioles move within 1.5 games of the American League Wild Card Standings.
The Baltimore Orioles power their way past the Oakland Athletics with four home runs, two which came from rookie Trey Mancini as the Orioles gain a game and sit just 1.5 games in the AL Wild Card standings.
Adam Jones kick-started the Orioles home run with a solo shot in the fourth inning to put the O’s back on top 2-1. The next at-bat, Mancini drilled the first pitch from A’s starting pitcher Chris Smith for No. 19 on the season. However, Mancini wasn’t done just yet as he drilled home run No. 20 on the season in the sixth inning to extend the Orioles lead to 4-1.
Mancini, 25, made Orioles history last night in the 7-2 win against the A’s, becoming the first O’s rookie to collect 20 home runs in a season since Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. did it in 1982.
Take a look at Mancini’s two home run game from Thursday night:
In his second game back following his return from a back injury that kept him out for 10 days, Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo unleashed on Smith’s 74.9 mph changeup and sent the ball flying over the wall in left center field for home run No. 18 on the season.
Trumbo’s sixth inning home run Thursday night helped the 31-year-old outfielder break out of a treacherous 1-for-24 slump with zero home runs and a .042 batting average. Since the All-Star break, Trumbo is hitting .147 with four home runs, seven RBIs, and 27 strikeouts.
On the defensive side, Orioles starting pitcher Wade Miley pitched his best game since June, hurling seven innings with seven strikeouts and allowed zero earned runs for his sixth victory of the season.
For those who couldn’t stay up to watch Miley’s impressive outing, take a look at the video below:
Baltimore Orioles standings
With the win Thursday night, after two crucial losses to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Orioles gain ground on the final playoff spot in the AL Wild Card standings.
Entering Friday’s MLB schedule, the Orioles sit 1.5 games back from the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners for the second playoff spot in the AL Wild Card race. In an extremely tight race, the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, and Angels are the other three teams ahead of the Orioles with one game just separating the four teams.
In regards to the AL East, the Orioles still remain in fourth place far behind the first place Boston Red Sox, 8.5 games to be exact.
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The second-half version (hopefully) of Ubaldo Jimenez takes the mound tonight against Oakland Athletic’s 23-year-old pitcher Paul Blackburn. In his last three starts, Jimenez owns a 1.93 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 18.2 innings pitched.