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 Machado greeted right-hander Aaron Brooks with a two-run homer with
one out in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Baltimore
Orioles an 8-6 victory over the Oakland A's.
The third baseman came up after catcher Caleb Joseph doubled off
left-hander Drew Pomeranz (4-5) with one out in the inning. Pomeranz
left with left forearm tightness, forcing Oakland manager Bob Melvin
to quickly move Brooks into the game.
Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop went over to Machado before
the at-bat and mentioned that everyone wants to go home, and this
would be the time to finish things off. Machado, who finished
2-for-6 overall, then made everyone happy by lining an 0-1 pitch
into the left-field seats for his second career walk-off homer.
"It felt great," Machado said. "We needed this win to get us going.
These games count from now on, every single inning, every single
pitch is going to make a difference."
The Orioles (58-56) ended their two-game losing streak with the win
while handing the A's (51-66) a fourth straight loss in the opener
of this four-game series.
Baltimore now is 1 1/2 games out in the wild-card race.
Oakland forced extra innings by scoring two runs off Orioles closer
Zach Britton to tie the game in the ninth. That ended a streak of 24
straight converted save chances for the left-hander, who pitched
well in that ninth, giving up a few softly-hit infield singles that
proved costly.
The Baltimore bullpen needed to come through again after
right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez lasted just five innings. He gave up
four runs, but six relief pitchers held the A's to two runs in eight
innings.
"That was a pretty impressive job by our bullpen," Orioles manager
Buck Showalter said. "I wanted to keep somebody for length tomorrow.
Hopefully because of the way we used them we'll still have some
people available tomorrow."
That's why rookie right-hander Jason Garcia (1-0) came on in a 6-6
tie in the 13th. He retired the A's in order and earned his first
major league victory. The Rule 5 pick needed just six pitches to get
through the inning.
Extra innings didn't appear to be on the horizon early because
Oakland scored single runs in the second and fourth. The A's made it
4-0 in the fifth when catcher Stephen Vogt hit a two-run homer off
Jimenez.
The Orioles cut the lead 4-3 thanks to Jones' three-run homer off
left-handed starter Brad Mills in the fifth.
"Any time you have a 4-0 lead, you feel you're in a pretty good
position to win the game," Melvin said. "Just a three-run homer --
and that's what they do is hit home runs -- got them right back in
it."
The Orioles then tied the game in the seventh on a Jones sacrifice
fly -- his fourth RBI -- to short center off left-hander Fernando
Abad.
That scored Machado, who deftly dodged the tag of Vogt to touch the
plate. Davis came up next and battled Abad through an eight-pitch at
bat before crushing a 1-2 pitch on to Eutaw Street for a two-run
homer that gave Baltimore a 6-4 lead.
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Britton came on in the ninth and couldn't hold it, giving up two
runs for just his second blown save this season. Third baseman Danny
Valencia tied the game with a two-out RBI single.
"They hit some balls off the plate, some balls that we couldn't
field," Britton said. "One of the those days. That happens with the
sinker, it's happened before and it's not going to be the last
time."
The A's took a 1-0 lead with a two-out rally against Jimenez in the
second. Left fielder Coco Crisp got his first RBI of the season --
in at-bat number 74 -- with a soft single to center that scored
second baseman Brett Lawrie.
Shortstop Marcus Semien then hit another soft single to center, but
Jones threw out designated hitter Billy Butler at the plate to keep
the score 1-0.
Center fielder Billy Burns then reached on an infield single, a soft
grounder that Machado couldn't handle, allowing Butler to score in
the fourth. But Machado then threw out Crisp trying to score on the
play, ending the inning with the A's leading 2-0.
Crisp went 4-for-6 with three doubles after entering the game with
an .096 batting average.
Vogt then drilled his two-run homer to right in the fifth for the
four-run lead, drawing a smattering of boos from the Baltimore
crowd. He finished the night 3-for-5 with two RBIs, but the Orioles'
power attack brought them back.
"We just made three bad pitches tonight," Vogt said. "That's the
story of the game. And, unfortunately, they hurt us."
NOTES: Orioles manager Buck Showalter said RHP Chris Tillman will
throw on Saturday and, if all is well, start the finale of this
series on Monday. Tillman was hit a few inches above the right elbow
in Seattle earlier this week. ... The Orioles had a pregame ceremony
inducting former 3B Melvin Mora, LFs John Lowenstein and Gary
Roenicke (they were a platoon duo) and scout Fred Uhlman Sr. into
the team's Hall of Fame. ... Oakland manager Bob Melvin said RHP
Sonny Gray, the scheduled starter for this game who was sidelined by
back spasms, is doing better and will throw a bullpen session
Saturday. But he won't start before Monday.
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