It was a nice change of scenery at Yankee Stadium South, even before the first pitch.
The date was September 6th, a memorable one in Orioles history. Seventeen years ago, Cal Ripken, Jr. had passed Yankees legend Lou Gehrig for the most consecutive games played with 2,131. Tonight, a statue was unveiled to commemorate the former Orioles third baseman’s illustrious career.
But this wasn’t the only exciting storyline of the evening.
Two days earlier, thanks to a 12-run shutout of the Blue Jays and a Yankees loss in Tampa Bay, the Orioles had tied the Yankees atop the American League East and held a share of first place in the month of September for the first time since 1997. Following a loss and a Yankees victory the night before, Oriole Park at Camden Yards was primed to see its team take care of business and tie for the division lead once again.
Ripken’s statue had been unveiled. Both teams were on the field for pregame warm-ups. The grounds crew was hosing down the infield. That’s when PA announcer Ryan Wagner’s voice overtook Camden Yards and the starting lineups were announced…
“The starting lineup for the visiting New York Yankees managed by Joe Girardi…”
“BOOOOOOOOOO!”
Wait, that can’t be right. I should be hearing cheers!
“Batting first, the shortstop, number 2, Derek Jeter.”
“BOOOOOOOOOO!”
Hold up. Something is going on here.
“Batting second, the first baseman, number 33, Nick Swisher.”
“BOOOOOOOOOO!”
I looked up and was blinded by a thick sheet of orange covering the bleachers. It took me a minute before I realized that they were Orioles fans. Actual Orioles fans! During a Yankees game!
“Batting third, the second baseman, number 24, Robinson Cano.”
“BOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Batting fourth, the designated hitter, number 13, Alex Rodriguez.”
The resounding “BOOOOOOOOOO!” that echoed throughout Baltimore put a smile on my face and I immediately knew that tonight was going to be special. After all, there were more Orioles fans than Yankees fans in the stadium for the first time in my life that I could remember.
The magic was about to begin.
A three up, three down first inning by Jason Hammel brought the O’s to the plate. Nick Markakis grounded out, and then JJ Hardy poked a liner into right field and became the game’s first baserunner. Nate McLouth singled to put Hardy in scoring position with one out. A balk sent Hardy to third and McLouth to second. After a mound visit, Yankees starter David Phelps surrendered a base hit to Adam Jones, which plated Hardy. There were runners on first and third for Matt Wieters.
MASN’s commercials tell us to listen to “the crack of the bat” and “the roar of the crowd.” Wieters took care of the former on the first pitch he saw. The latter happened naturally when the ball landed in the first row of the left field bleachers, just past the outstretched glove of Raul Ibañez. A three run homer put the Orioles ahead 4-0 in the first inning. They never looked back.
Well, until the eighth inning.
After Curtis Granderson put the Yankees on the board with an RBI single in the fourth, Robert Andino made sure that the Birds didn’t lose any ground. His sixth homer of the season got that run right back in the bottom of the inning.
Mark Reynolds extended the lead to 6-1 when he parked a solo shot in the left field bleachers, and it looked like the Orioles wouldn’t have a problem.
Not so fast. I mentioned the eighth inning?
Orioles’ reliever Randy Wolf ran into some trouble after recording a couple outs in the top of the inning and surrendered his duties to Pedro Strop, who inherited runners on first and second and a 6-2 lead. Granderson proceeded to add his second RBI single of the game, and the O’s lead was cut to 6-3. There were two outs, but the tying run was at the plate. Birdland was quiet.
A walk to Russell Martin loaded the bases. Strop started hearing it from the fans. When he immediately surrendered another walk to Chris Dickerson forcing Eric Chavez in to score, the fans were visibly angry. A two run single by Ichiro was the final straw. The Orioles had watched their comfortable 6-1 lead disappear.
Manager Buck Showalter pulled Strop from the game, and the boos coming from O’s fans were almost as loud as they had been when Alex Rodriguez’s name was announced. When trusty reliever Darren O’Day induced an inning-ending pop out, the crowd erupted into a sarcastic cheer.
The frustration in Birdland was short lived.
With Adam Jones due up to lead off the bottom of the eighth, dominant Yankees reliever David Robertson jogged in from the bullpen and took the mound. All the momentum was in the enemy’s favor… for now.
Robertson delivered a 1-2 cutter right across the middle of the plate. Jones delivered a 423-foot bomb about fifteen rows into the left field bleachers.
After a Wieters single, “The Sheriff” Mark Reynolds sent a moonshot into the left field seats. Lefty reliever Boone Logan then replaced Robertson to face Chris Davis. Davis responded by sending Logan’s first pitch onto the flag court. 10-6 Orioles.
Talk about a momentum shift.
After the next three Birds were retired in order, “The Pretender” blared from the Camden Yards speakers as closer Jim Johnson emerged from the bullpen. The AL saves leader surrendered only one baserunner as he retired the Yankees and sealed the victory for the Orioles.
Six Oriole home runs, a blown five run lead, lots of cheering and lots of booing made The Iron Man’s special night just a bit more exciting.
The American League East division lead was once again shared, and the BUCKle Up Birds were on their way to their first playoff birth since 1997.
