On a night where he was honored in a special pre-game ceremony for being named American League Player of the Month for April, and where he was honored with a free t-shirt giveaway at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Chris Davis put on the type of performance that earned him those aforementioned honors in the first place.
First, let’s set the stage: Davis and the O’s are fresh off getting curb-stomped by the Nationals, 9-3, in the second game of two in Washington. They’re coming home to play two more against the Nats at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and are facing Washington’s ace. No, not Stephen Strasburgh. Jordan Zimmermann, who entered the game with an 8-2 record and a nifty 1.71 ERA.
An big-time offensive performance by an Oriole seemed like a long shot.
But, there was this…the first 10,000 fans 15 and over at OPACY got this “Crush” Davis t-shirt:
Front
Back
It was definitely one of the coolest giveaways ever, as evidenced by the fact that the lines were HUGE at OPACY over two hours before game time. People wanted these shirts.
Then Crush put on a show for the 10,000 fans wearing a shirt featuring his likeness.
He collected the O’s first hit off Zimmermann, in the bottom of the second inning, and subsequently came around to score their first run. This tied the game at one after the Nats’ Ryan Zimmerman blasted a solo shot in the top of the first (more on him in a minute).
After back-to-back dingers by Roger Bernadina – a Eutaw Street moonshot – and Zimmerman – his second of the night – in the top of the fourth pushed the Nats ahead 3-1, it was Davis who would answer first, launching a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the frame.
With the his team trailing 6-3 after – you guessed it – another Zimmerman home run (this one of the two-run variety) and a Nick Markakis solo dinger, Davis laced his second single of the evening. Though he would ultimately be stranded, Crush was already 3-for-3 and not finished yet.
The O’s put together a furious comeback in the bottom of the seventh, scoring six runs in the frame. And though this was Chris Davis’ night (despite Ryan Zimmerman’s best efforts to make it otherwise) we’d be remiss to not mention everybody that contributed to the rally, including Ryan Flaherty (!), Steve Pearce (two-run HR), Nate McLouth (single, run), Manny Machado (RBI double, run), and Markakis (go-ahead RBI single). After Nick’s single, the O’s had their first lead of the night, at 7-6.
Davis stepped to the plate against reliever Tyler Clippard with one out, and quickly fell behind 0-2.
Clippard could NOT put Davis away. He threw a change up that Davis reached out and extended his arms on, launching his second home run of the night, giving the O’s a 9-6 lead, and capping off his perfect evening.
Davis’ final line: 4-4, 2 1B, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI. Not a bad day at the office. While Zimmerman’s three home run night will be one he’ll remember, thanks to the efforts of Davis and his teammates, Ryan won’t be able to remember the game as a victory.
(Unlike when Davis remembers his own 3 HR night, a 6-4 win over Toronto last August.)
Davis’ ridiculous season numbers following Wednesday night’s game: .359 (2nd in AL), 19 HR (1st in MLB), 50 RBI (2nd in MLB), .766 SLG (1st in MLB), 1.214 OPS (1st in MLB).
Maybe every night should be Chris Davis t-shirt night…what do you think, Chris?
P.S. As of 6 AM Thursday, there is a Davis t-shirt going for over $114 on EBay.
