Nine to Know: Extra! Extra! Orioles win in 18

You simply don’t want to go into extra-innings against the Baltimore Orioles.

It took the O’s 18 innings and 5 hours and 44 minutes but the amazing Orioles (84-64) pulled within a percentage point of the rained-out Yankees (83-63) by defeating the Mariners, 4-2.

I love the magic of Cinderella teams.

Here’s your Orioles Nine to Know:

1. Baltimore has now won 14 straight extra-inning games, including nine on the road, for the longest extra-inning win streak since the 1949 Cleveland Indians who won 19 straight.

2. The winning hit was a blooped pinch-hit single provided by Taylor Teagarden. Teagarden is now hitting .152 on the season. He has seven hits this season and eight RBI. Six of Teagarden’s hits have driven in runs with three driving in extra inning runs:

Gtm	Date		Opp	Rslt	Inngs	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI
87 (86)	Jul 14		DET	W,8-6	11-GF(13)	2	2	1	1	0	1	2
100 (1)	Jul 27		OAK	L,9-14	CG	5	5	1	1	0	0	0
108 (2)	Aug 5	@	TBR	W,1-0	CG(10)	4	4	0	1	1	0	1
130 (5)	Aug 30		CHW	W,5-3	CG	3	3	1	2	1	1	2
143 (3)	Sep 13		TBR	W,3-2	GS-13	5	3	0	1	1	0	2
148	Sep 18	@	SEA	W,4-2	18-GF(18)	1	1	0	1	0	0	1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2012.

3. Jim Johnson earned his 44th save of the season.

4. The Orioles are 7-0 in games that go at least 13 innings in 2012.

5. The Orioles, who scored two in the 9th to send this game in extras, are now 4-61 this season when trailing after eight. The Yankees are 0-54.

6. It was the fourth time the Orioles have played 18 innings in their history, and the first since consecutive 18-inning games on Aug. 24 and 25, 1969. Here the longest games in franchise history:

Rk	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	IP
1	2012-09-18	BAL	SEA	W 4-2	18.0
2	1968-08-25	BAL	BOS	W 3-2	18.0
3	1967-06-04	BAL	WSA	W 7-5	19.0
4	1959-08-06	BAL	CHW	T 1-1	18.0
5	1952-07-01	SLB	CLE	L 3-4	18.2
6	1952-06-20	SLB	WSH	T 5-5	18.0
7	1921-08-09	SLB	WSH	W 8-6	19.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/19/2012.

7. The Orioles have seven walk-off wins and NO walk-off losses.

8. The Orioles held the Mariners 0 for 17 with runners in scoring position. Here is an important stat: Take a look at the batting average against in the AL this season and you’ll see the Mariners are the only team in the top nine who are not in the postseason hunt:

Rk		BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	OAK	.240	.318	.356	.673
2	NYY	.243	.318	.386	.705
3	DET	.249	.320	.384	.705
4	LAA	.249	.328	.399	.727
5	TBR	.258	.346	.382	.728
6	BAL	.259	.348	.390	.738
7	TEX	.261	.323	.415	.738
8	SEA	.253	.328	.419	.748
9	CHW	.254	.346	.405	.751
10	KCR	.260	.341	.414	.754
11	TOR	.250	.335	.420	.755
12	BOS	.267	.350	.424	.773
13	MIN	.288	.360	.447	.807
14	CLE	.286	.358	.460	.818
	TOT	.259	.338	.408	.746

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2012.

9. And in the end…Fewer than a thousand fans remained from the initial 12,608 at Safeco Field who were at the game at its peak.

Not one .300 hitter played in the game…

Here’s the Orioles box score:

Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
Nate McLouth LF	6	2	3	0	1	0	.244
J.J. Hardy SS	6	1	2	0	1	1	.237
Chris Davis DH	4	0	1	2	0	1	.261
Xavier Avery PR-DH	3	0	0	0	0	1	.223
Taylor Teagarden PH-DH	1	0	1	1	0	0	.152
Adam Jones CF	7	0	0	0	0	3	.285
Matt Wieters C	7	0	0	0	1	3	.248
Mark Reynolds 1B	7	0	0	1	0	1	.228
Manny Machado 3B	8	0	1	0	0	3	.264
Endy Chavez RF	6	0	0	0	0	0	.210
Lew Ford PH-RF	1	0	0	0	0	0	.172
Robert Andino 2B	2	0	0	0	0	0	.211
Ryan Flaherty PH-2B	1	1	1	0	0	0	.216
Steven Tolleson PH-2B	1	0	1	0	0	0	.188
Omar Quintanilla PH-2B	2	0	0	0	1	0	.244
Team Totals	62	4	10	4	4	13	.161

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2012.

Here’s the Mariners box score:

Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
Dustin Ackley 2B-1B	8	0	3	0	0	1	.234
Franklin Gutierrez CF	8	0	1	0	0	3	.250
Kyle Seager 3B-2B	7	0	2	0	1	1	.258
Jesus Montero DH	8	0	0	0	0	2	.259
Michael Saunders LF	5	0	0	0	0	3	.247
Trayvon Robinson LF	3	0	1	0	0	2	.218
Justin Smoak 1B	5	0	3	0	0	1	.204
Chone Figgins PR-3B	2	0	0	0	1	1	.183
Casper Wells RF	7	1	1	0	1	1	.220
Miguel Olivo C	5	1	1	2	3	1	.209
Brendan Ryan SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	.190
John Jaso PH	0	0	0	0	0	0	.277
Alex Liddi PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	.234
Munenori Kawasaki SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	.196
Eric Thames PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	.235
Carlos Triunfel SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Mike Carp PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.217
Team Totals	65	2	12	2	6	18	.185

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2012.

Bill Chuck's Nine to Know: AL Edition

1. With the Orioles 8-3 win over the Yankees yesterday, the O's now have 74 wins (74-59) their most wins since 2005 when they went 74-88.
2. No AL team has hit more homers on the road this season than the LA Angels who have slammed 94.
3. Since the All-Star break, the Angels have the highest AL team batting average at .283.
4. The Angels lead the AL with a .286 average leading off an inning.
5. The A's have the worst average in the AL with runners on base (.245).
6. The Rays have the best team ERA in the AL away from home with 3.65.
7. The Rays pitchers have the best batting average against batters leading off an inning in the majors at just .229.
8. No AL team has allowed fewer 1st inning runs than the A's starters who have permitted just 49.
9. No AL staff has allowed fewer two-out runs than the Mariners who have permitted just 188.

Manny Machado's MLB Debut

Manny Machado, the wunderkind recently ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the game by Baseball America, made his MLB debut last night at home against the Royals. Machado finished the night 2-for-4 with a triple, becoming the first 20-year-old to have a multi-hit game in his first big league game since Giancarlo Stanton in 2010. Here's a quick breakdown of how pitchers attacked Machado:

Machado's 1st AB

Royals lefty Will Smith started Machado off with a curveball that Machado took for a strike. After taking a fastball just off the outside corner, Machado grounded out on a middle-of-the-plate curve.

Machado's 2nd AB

Machado showed his youth -- and pure hitting ability -- in this AB.  He took an 88 MPH fastball down the middle for strike one, and then whiffed at curveball at the shoe tops. But Machado adjusted, drilling an outside curve to the right field gap for a sliding triple.

Machado's 3rd AB

Machado took a big hack at a borderline changeup from Smith and came up empty, then fouled off a fastball to fall behind 0-and-2. He took a high-and-tight fastball for a ball, then hit a squibber on an inside slider that rolled away from Smith for an infield single.

Machado's 4th AB

Machado took a 95 MPH from Jeremy Jeffress for strike one, checked his swing on a low-and-away slider to even the count and then flied out on a high-and-inside fastball.

While Machado is awfully young, the O's promoting him might not be as big of a rush job as it first appears.  He showed a mature plate approach at Double-A Bowie with a 48/70 K/BB ratio in 459 plate appearances, and his .266/.352/.438 line looks better once you consider that the Eastern League average is just .260/.331/.391 in 2012. He'll have some rough moments, as any 20-year-old facing a two-rung promotion to the majors would. But itt'l be fun seeing just what type of hitter Machado becomes as he fills out his 6-foot-3, 185 pound frame.