Who stood out in the Orioles’ 3-1 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday?
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 55th game of the 2016 season.
1st — Matt Wieters once again came up big in a late-game situation, grounding a 101 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman into center field to plate the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth. Not only was Wieters pinch-hitting for just the third time this season, but he had quickly fallen behind 0-2 after failing to catch up to two straight 99 mph fastballs from the Yankees lefty. It was an impressive feat for the starting catcher as he shortened his stroke and delivered the first Baltimore runs of the afternoon. Wieters is now hitting .369 with a .967 on-base plus slugging percentage and 16 RBIs in his last 18 games.
2nd — Kevin Gausman didn’t record a single 1-2-3 inning and had many deep counts, but the Yankees were just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position against him as the 25-year-old turned in the Orioles’ first quality start since Memorial Day. The right-hander scattered seven hits and two walks, but his most important work came in the fourth inning when he got Aaron Hicks to ground into a fielder’s choice and Jacoby Ellsbury to strike out with the bases loaded to maintain a 1-0 deficit. He would strike out five in six innings while throwing 104 pitches for his fifth quality start of the season.
3rd — Francisco Pena was at Triple-A Norfolk with a total of seven major league plate appearances under his belt a week ago, but the reserve catcher picked up a huge single off Chapman to load the bases and give Wieters a chance as a pinch hitter with two outs in the eighth. He also got a great read on Wieters’ single to advance to third, which allowed him to score on Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s errant throw. Son of Yankees first base coach and former major league catcher Tony Pena, the 26-year-old also walked in the third and singled in the fifth in a 2-for-3 performance.
Home — T.J. McFarland pitched two scoreless innings to not only keep the Orioles in the game, but the lefty also helped preserve an overworked bullpen that’s without the services of the injured Darren O’Day. For his efforts, McFarland picked up his first win of the season. … Zach Britton pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 17th save in 17 tries and extended his scoreless streak to 13 games covering 14 1/3 innings. … The Orioles improved to 2-20 when trailing at the end of seven innings and handed the Yankees their first defeat of the year when ahead at the end of seven. … Right-hander Mike Wright will start the opener of a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals, who will send lefty Danny Duffy to the hill on Monday night.
