Who stood out in the Orioles’ 1-0 win over the New York Yankees in 10 innings on Thursday night?
In the spirit of hockey’s “three stars” system with the addition of home plate for honorable mentions and other notes, we go around the bases after the 27th game of the 2016 season.
1st — Kevin Gausman was brilliant in the best start of his career as he tossed eight shutout innings — matching his longest start in the majors — and retired 23 of the 26 hitters he faced in a throwback duel with Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka. The 25-year-old right-hander masterfully used his split-changeup against a lineup featuring seven hitters from the left side of the plate, and all four of his strikeouts came on that pitch. In a game in which Gausman’s fastball velocity wasn’t great early, he relied more on his two-seam fastball to induce 10 grounders. However, his velocity improved as the game progressed and his fastball was hitting the mid-90s in his final inning of work. Gausman said after the game that he feels more comfortable than ever this season and is no longer questioning his ability to succeed in the majors. His game score of 80 was the highest of his career and he lowered his season ERA to 1.42, more evidence that the young starter is feeling at peace in the major league rotation. The win is an overrated and antiquated stat for pitchers, but it was a shame that Gausman didn’t walk away with one after that effort.
2nd — Pedro Alvarez owned a career .201 average and a .596 on-base plus slugging percentage in his career against left-handed pitching, but the former Pittsburgh Pirate provided the game-winning sacrifice fly off Yankees closer Andrew Miller to plate the winning run in the 10th. You could argue that Buck Showalter should have used Nolan Reimold as a pinch hitter for Alvarez instead of as a pinch runner for Hyun Soo Kim at third base, but it worked out for the Orioles manager and his club.
3rd — Zach Britton pitched for the first time since injuring his left ankle on Saturday and impressively struck out the side after a rocky start in the top of the 10th in which he walked the leadoff hitter. His command was erratic as he threw six straight balls to begin the inning, but Britton was able to whiff Mark Teixiera, Carlos Beltran, and Dustin Ackley to retire the side.
Home — Jonathan Schoop had a multi-hit game, and it was his single that advanced Kim to third base with no outs in the bottom of the 10th. The second baseman extended his hitting streak to eight games. … Kim went 1-for-3 with a walk and has hit safely in six of his seven games this season. … The Orioles won two out of three from the Yankees despite scoring only five runs in the series and suffering through 21 straight innings without scoring a run until Reimold scored the winning run on Thursday night. They earned their third walk-off win of 2016 and are now 2-0 in extra innings this season. … Ubaldo Jimenez goes to the hill on Friday as Baltimore begins a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics, who will start ex-Orioles lefty Rich Hill.
