O's Win a Thriller in Extra Innings

I'm still shaking...the O's battled back against the Yankees and won the game in the eleventh inning 10-9. This had to have been one of the most exciting comebacks I've ever seen...

The Orioles never led until they won the game. In a battle of the long balls, the O's prevailed. The two teams combined to hit nine homers in the first five innings, two shy of the record at Camden Yards. The O's finished with five home runs.

Here's how it happened...in the second inning, Jason Giambi hit a solo shot and Johnny Damon's 3-run homer gave NY a 4-0 lead. The O's answered right back, as Kevin Millar drilled a 2-run shot and Ramon Hernandez followed with a solo home run of his own. It was the first time the O's hit back-to-back home runs this season (and they weren't finished). After a throwing error led to an unearned run, the score was knotted at four.

Then in the fourth, Bobby Abreu smacked a 2-run shot, followed by a solo homer from Alex Rodriguez. Just an inning later, the O's tied the game with three home runs of their own. Melvin Mora hit a 2-run dinger, cutting the Yankee's lead to 8-6. With two out, Luke Scott drilled a solo shot to right, and Millar followed with a solo shot to left (I told you they weren't finished).

After that, it was a battle of the bullpens. Heavy rain delayed the game for just over an hour, and when it resumed in the bottom of the ninth, the O's failed to score, sending it into extra-innings. The Yankees took a 9-8 lead in the eleventh, but the O's rallied yet again in the bottom of the inning. Melvin Mora led-off with a single, and tied the game after Aubrey Huff doubled (he took third on the throw home). After intentional walks to Luke Scott and Kevin Millar, Alex Cintron won the game with a single to right field.

Honestly, I could write a term paper about this game, so I'll try to make this short and sweet...this game was HUGE, and the Orioles showed just what kind of a team they are. Brian Burres was knocked out in the third inning, giving up eight runs and four homers. The bullpen held the Yankees for the rest of the game, and the bats came to life. The O's were down 4-0, then 8-4, and then 9-8, but responded every time...they never gave up.

“You don’t want to make a living out of it, but this was probably the biggest Oriole win I’ve seen as far as just a full team effort,” said Kevin Millar (courtesy of AP/Yahoo Sports.com).


"This is the best game I've ever been a part of to win," Trembley said of his team's effort. "I've never seen anything like that. That's a real credit to our team. That's probably the biggest understatement I can say. That's just incredible," (courtesy of MLB.com).

With the win, the O's are a game over .500 and have a chance to sweep the Yankees later this evening. Here's hoping the bats stay hot...Andy Pettitte takes the mound for NY and has a 23-6 lifetime record against the Orioles. Jeremy Guthrie opposes him, and he could certainly use some run support...