BALTIMORE -- For 60 straight appearances, Zach Britton dealt with the pleasure and pressure of fulfilling his job description when called upon to preserve a victory.
The Baltimore Orioles closer was perfect for so long, he put his name in the American League record book.
He will have to settle for that, because his run at setting the major league mark ended Wednesday amid the evening shadows of Camden Yards.
Britton's AL-record run of converting 60 straight save attempts was ruined when he blew a two-run lead and failed to get out of the ninth inning in a game Baltimore ultimately won in the 12th, 8-7 over the Oakland Athletics.
Baltimore led 7-5 heading into the ninth when Britton entered to seal the victory, just as he had been doing successfully since the final days of the 2015 season. On this occasion, however, the left-hander gave up three straight hits before a sacrifice fly by Matt Joyce tied it.
Following a walk to Khris Davis, Britton was replaced by Miguel Castro (3-1), who quelled the uprising and kept Oakland at bay to the finish.
"I was pretty disappointed," Britton said. "Just wasn't very good at all today. Where we are right now, you want to win those games and obviously we did and it's because of Castro."
Manny Machado led off the 12th with a home run off Simon Castro (1-2) to end a game that lasted 4 hours, 20 minutes.
Machado's 28th homer enabled Baltimore to win two of three from the Athletics and remain relevant in the wild-card chase. Since sweeping Kansas City on July 31-Aug. 2, Baltimore had lost three series and split two.
But the story of the game was Britton, whose streak began on Oct. 1, 2015, extended through all of last season and went for 11 more saves this year. He had not blown a save since Sept. 20, 2015, at Tampa Bay.
Britton finished well short of Eric Gagne's major league mark of 84, set from 2002-04.
"I just called him in my office and congratulated him. You won't see it again," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "And he does hold the record in my mind, OK?"
The Orioles let a five-run lead shrink to 6-5 in the eighth before Chris Davis hit his 20th home run to provide a bit of breathing room for Britton.
It wasn't enough.
"I didn't make quality pitches today and that's the gist of it really," Britton said. "If you get beat with good pitches, I think it's a different feeling. But, you know, today just wasn't sharp at all from the get go."
Britton confirmed after the game that he will get an MRI on his left knee, which has been giving him trouble since 2014, but would not blame his ineffectiveness on the injury.
"I pitched through it the last three or four years," he said.
After Trey Mancini hit a three-run homer in the Baltimore fourth, Welington Castillo delivered a two-run drive in the sixth to make it 6-1. But the A's chased starter Dylan Bundy in a two-run seventh and further cut the gap when Joyce hit a two-run shot off Mychal Givens.
"There are games you lose, and there are games you fight about as hard as you can possibly fight," manager Bob Melvin said. "To come back from where we were earlier in the game, 6-1, and then score off Britton like that, our guys showed a lot of heart today. Unfortunately, we end up on the losing end. These guys battled as hard as we've seen all year and continue to battle."
Recalled from Triple-A Nashville before the game, Oakland starter Daniel Gossett gave up five runs and eight hits in five-plus innings.
ROSTER MOVES
Athletics: RHP Michael Brady was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to make room for Gossett. ... After the game, Oakland traded OF Rajai Davis to Boston for minor league OF Rafael Rincones.
Orioles: Activated Castro from the bereavement list and optioned RHP Alec Asher to Triple-A Norfolk.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: Melvin has not yet decided whether RHP Paul Blackburn will make his next start after he was hit with a line drive on the right wrist Tuesday.
Orioles: RHP Hunter Harvey, Baltimore's No. 1 pick (22nd overall) in 2013, continued his climb back from Tommy John surgery on Tuesday with first appearance at Single-A Delmarva this season.
UP NEXT
Athletics: After a day off Thursday, RHP Kendall Graveman (3-4, 4.54 ERA) draws the start at home in the opener of a three-game series against Texas. Graveman is 2-2 with 5.20 ERA in six career starts against the Rangers.
Orioles: Baltimore also has Thursday off. It begins a three-game set at Boston on Friday, with RHP Jeremy Hellickson (1-2, 6.35 in four starts with the Orioles) on the mound.
The Baltimore Orioles closer was perfect for so long, he put his name in the American League record book.
He will have to settle for that, because his run at setting the major league mark ended Wednesday amid the evening shadows of Camden Yards.
Britton's AL-record run of converting 60 straight save attempts was ruined when he blew a two-run lead and failed to get out of the ninth inning in a game Baltimore ultimately won in the 12th, 8-7 over the Oakland Athletics.
Baltimore led 7-5 heading into the ninth when Britton entered to seal the victory, just as he had been doing successfully since the final days of the 2015 season. On this occasion, however, the left-hander gave up three straight hits before a sacrifice fly by Matt Joyce tied it.
Following a walk to Khris Davis, Britton was replaced by Miguel Castro (3-1), who quelled the uprising and kept Oakland at bay to the finish.
"I was pretty disappointed," Britton said. "Just wasn't very good at all today. Where we are right now, you want to win those games and obviously we did and it's because of Castro."
Manny Machado led off the 12th with a home run off Simon Castro (1-2) to end a game that lasted 4 hours, 20 minutes.
Machado's 28th homer enabled Baltimore to win two of three from the Athletics and remain relevant in the wild-card chase. Since sweeping Kansas City on July 31-Aug. 2, Baltimore had lost three series and split two.
But the story of the game was Britton, whose streak began on Oct. 1, 2015, extended through all of last season and went for 11 more saves this year. He had not blown a save since Sept. 20, 2015, at Tampa Bay.
Britton finished well short of Eric Gagne's major league mark of 84, set from 2002-04.
"I just called him in my office and congratulated him. You won't see it again," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "And he does hold the record in my mind, OK?"
The Orioles let a five-run lead shrink to 6-5 in the eighth before Chris Davis hit his 20th home run to provide a bit of breathing room for Britton.
It wasn't enough.
"I didn't make quality pitches today and that's the gist of it really," Britton said. "If you get beat with good pitches, I think it's a different feeling. But, you know, today just wasn't sharp at all from the get go."
Britton confirmed after the game that he will get an MRI on his left knee, which has been giving him trouble since 2014, but would not blame his ineffectiveness on the injury.
"I pitched through it the last three or four years," he said.
After Trey Mancini hit a three-run homer in the Baltimore fourth, Welington Castillo delivered a two-run drive in the sixth to make it 6-1. But the A's chased starter Dylan Bundy in a two-run seventh and further cut the gap when Joyce hit a two-run shot off Mychal Givens.
"There are games you lose, and there are games you fight about as hard as you can possibly fight," manager Bob Melvin said. "To come back from where we were earlier in the game, 6-1, and then score off Britton like that, our guys showed a lot of heart today. Unfortunately, we end up on the losing end. These guys battled as hard as we've seen all year and continue to battle."
Recalled from Triple-A Nashville before the game, Oakland starter Daniel Gossett gave up five runs and eight hits in five-plus innings.
ROSTER MOVES
Athletics: RHP Michael Brady was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to make room for Gossett. ... After the game, Oakland traded OF Rajai Davis to Boston for minor league OF Rafael Rincones.
Orioles: Activated Castro from the bereavement list and optioned RHP Alec Asher to Triple-A Norfolk.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: Melvin has not yet decided whether RHP Paul Blackburn will make his next start after he was hit with a line drive on the right wrist Tuesday.
Orioles: RHP Hunter Harvey, Baltimore's No. 1 pick (22nd overall) in 2013, continued his climb back from Tommy John surgery on Tuesday with first appearance at Single-A Delmarva this season.
UP NEXT
Athletics: After a day off Thursday, RHP Kendall Graveman (3-4, 4.54 ERA) draws the start at home in the opener of a three-game series against Texas. Graveman is 2-2 with 5.20 ERA in six career starts against the Rangers.
Orioles: Baltimore also has Thursday off. It begins a three-game set at Boston on Friday, with RHP Jeremy Hellickson (1-2, 6.35 in four starts with the Orioles) on the mound.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Oakland - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Dylan Bundy pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Powell singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Semien flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Joyce struck out swinging. Powell caught stealing second, catcher to third. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Daniel Gossett pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Beckham singled to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Machado lined out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Beckham stole second. | 0 | 0 |
| Schoop flied out to center, Beckham to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Jones struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Dylan Bundy pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| K. Davis lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Healy lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Olson flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Daniel Gossett pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Mancini grounded out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Davis struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Trumbo struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Dylan Bundy pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Chapman struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Maxwell struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Pinder struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Daniel Gossett pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Castillo struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Flaherty struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Beckham grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Dylan Bundy pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Powell flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Semien singled to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Joyce grounded into fielder's choice to first, Semien out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| K. Davis struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Daniel Gossett pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Machado grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Schoop singled to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Schoop to second on wild pitch by Gossett. | 0 | 0 |
| Jones singled to center, Schoop to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Mancini homered to center (403 feet), Schoop and Jones scored. | 0 | 3 |
| Davis grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 3 |
| Trumbo walked. | 0 | 3 |
| Castillo singled to right, Trumbo to second. | 0 | 3 |
| Flaherty singled to center, Trumbo scored, Castillo to second. | 0 | 4 |
| Beckham reached on infield single to third, Castillo tagged out at home, Flaherty to second. | 0 | 4 |
| 4 Runs, 6 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Dylan Bundy pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Healy struck out swinging. | 0 | 4 |
| Olson popped out to third. | 0 | 4 |
| Chapman struck out swinging. | 0 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Daniel Gossett pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Machado singled to right. | 0 | 4 |
| Schoop popped out to first. | 0 | 4 |
| Jones struck out swinging. | 0 | 4 |
| Machado caught stealing second, catcher to second. | 0 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Dylan Bundy pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Maxwell flied out to center. | 0 | 4 |
| Pinder flied out to right. | 0 | 4 |
| Powell reached on infield single to shortstop. | 0 | 4 |
| Semien doubled to deep center, Powell scored. | 1 | 4 |
| Joyce struck out swinging. | 1 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Daniel Gossett pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Mancini walked. | 1 | 4 |
| Coulombe relieved Gossett. | 1 | 4 |
| Mancini to second on wild pitch by Coulombe. | 1 | 4 |
| Davis struck out looking. | 1 | 4 |
| Trumbo grounded out to third. | 1 | 4 |
| Castillo homered to left center (419 feet), Mancini scored. | 1 | 6 |
| Flaherty grounded out to third. | 1 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Dylan Bundy pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| K. Davis doubled to deep left center. | 1 | 6 |
| Healy reached on infield single to shortstop, K. Davis to third. | 1 | 6 |
| Olson singled to right center, K. Davis scored, Healy to third. | 2 | 6 |
| Givens relieved Bundy. | 2 | 6 |
| Chapman fouled out to third. | 2 | 6 |
| Maxwell singled to center, Healy scored, Olson to third. | 3 | 6 |
| Lowrie hit for Pinder. | 3 | 6 |
| Lowrie struck out swinging. | 3 | 6 |
| Powell struck out swinging. | 3 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Santiago Casilla pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Lowrie at second base. | 3 | 6 |
| Casilla relieved Coulombe. | 3 | 6 |
| Beckham doubled to deep right. | 3 | 6 |
| Machado grounded out to shortstop, Beckham to third. | 3 | 6 |
| Schoop popped out to first, Beckham tagged out at home. | 3 | 6 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Mychal Givens pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Semien walked. | 3 | 6 |
| Joyce homered to right (394 feet), Semien scored. | 5 | 6 |
| K. Davis struck out looking. | 5 | 6 |
| Healy grounded out to pitcher. | 5 | 6 |
| Bleier relieved Givens. | 5 | 6 |
| Olson walked. | 5 | 6 |
| Brach relieved Bleier. | 5 | 6 |
| Chapman walked, Olson to second. | 5 | 6 |
| Maxwell struck out swinging. | 5 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Ryan Dull pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Dull relieved Casilla. | 5 | 6 |
| Jones struck out swinging. | 5 | 6 |
| Mancini struck out swinging. | 5 | 6 |
| Davis homered to right center (396 feet). | 5 | 7 |
| Trumbo popped out to shortstop. | 5 | 7 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Zach Britton pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Gentry in right field. | 5 | 7 |
| Britton relieved Brach. | 5 | 7 |
| Lowrie singled to left. | 5 | 7 |
| Powell doubled to left, Lowrie to third. | 5 | 7 |
| Semien singled to left, Lowrie scored, Powell to third. | 6 | 7 |
| Joyce hit sacrifice fly to center, Powell scored. | 7 | 7 |
| Semien to second on wild pitch by Britton. | 7 | 7 |
| K. Davis walked. | 7 | 7 |
| Castro relieved Britton. | 7 | 7 |
| Healy walked, Semien to third, K. Davis to second. | 7 | 7 |
| Olson popped out to shortstop. | 7 | 7 |
| Chapman struck out looking. | 7 | 7 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Chris Hatcher pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Hatcher relieved Dull. | 7 | 7 |
| Castillo walked. | 7 | 7 |
| Smith hit for Gentry. | 7 | 7 |
| Smith singled to center, Castillo to second. | 7 | 7 |
| Joseph ran for Castillo. | 7 | 7 |
| Beckham struck out looking. | 7 | 7 |
| Machado struck out swinging. | 7 | 7 |
| Schoop struck out swinging. | 7 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 10th | SCORE | |
| Miguel Castro pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Joseph catching. | 7 | 7 |
| Smith in right field. | 7 | 7 |
| Maxwell doubled to deep right center. | 7 | 7 |
| Garneau ran for Maxwell. | 7 | 7 |
| Lowrie grounded out to first, Garneau to third. | 7 | 7 |
| Powell grounded out to second. | 7 | 7 |
| Semien struck out swinging. | 7 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 10th | SCORE | |
| Simon Castro pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Garneau catching. | 7 | 7 |
| Castro relieved Hatcher. | 7 | 7 |
| Jones struck out swinging. | 7 | 7 |
| Mancini flied out to right. | 7 | 7 |
| Davis walked. | 7 | 7 |
| Trumbo struck out swinging. | 7 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 11th | SCORE | |
| Miguel Castro pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Joyce grounded out to shortstop. | 7 | 7 |
| K. Davis flied out to right. | 7 | 7 |
| Healy flied out to right. | 7 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 11th | SCORE | |
| Simon Castro pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Joseph lined out to second. | 7 | 7 |
| Smith struck out swinging. | 7 | 7 |
| Beckham fouled out to catcher. | 7 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland - Top of 12th | SCORE | |
| Miguel Castro pitching for Baltimore | OAK | BAL |
| Olson singled to deep right center. | 7 | 7 |
| Chapman grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Olson out at second. | 7 | 7 |
| Garneau grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Chapman out at second. | 7 | 7 |
| Lowrie struck out swinging. | 7 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Baltimore - Bottom of 12th | SCORE | |
| Simon Castro pitching for Oakland | OAK | BAL |
| Machado homered to left center (373 feet). | 7 | 8 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Oakland Athletics | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Powell CF | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | .303 | .395 | .379 |
| Semien SS | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 21 | .257 | .342 | .391 |
| Joyce RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 23 | .232 | .332 | .454 |
| K. Davis LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 24 | .233 | .321 | .510 |
| Healy DH | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25 | .266 | .298 | .469 |
| Olson 1B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .242 | .339 | .505 |
| Chapman 3B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 26 | .225 | .300 | .491 |
| Maxwell C | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 24 | .228 | .324 | .295 |
Garneau PR-C
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .143 | .250 | .190 |
| Pinder 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .244 | .295 | .449 |
a-Lowrie PH-2B
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | .270 | .343 | .441 |
| Totals | 48 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 206 | |||
| a-struck out swinging for C Pinder in the 7th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Semien (10, Bundy); K. Davis (23, Bundy); Powell (2, Britton); Maxwell (7, Castro) HR: Joyce (19, 8th inning off Givens 1 on, 0 Out) RBI: Semien 2 (22), Olson (17), Maxwell (15), Joyce 3 (54) SF: Joyce 2-out RBI: Semien Athletics RISP: 4-14 (Powell 0-2, Healy 1-1, Chapman 0-2, Semien 1-2, Joyce 0-1, Olson 1-2, Maxwell 1-2, Lowrie 0-2) Team LOB: 11 | ||||||||||
| BASERUNNING CS: Powell (1, 2nd base by Bundy/Castillo) | ||||||||||
| FIELDING DP: 1 (Olson-Maxwell). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD |
| Attendance | 20,072 (43.7% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 4:20 |
| Weather | 84 degrees, cloudy |
| Wind | 7 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Angel Hernandez, First Base - John Tumpane, Second Base - Sean Barber, Third Base - Ted Barrett |
No comments:
Post a Comment