'Mr. Miami' slugs walk-off HR to lift O's past A's
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BALTIMORE -- A red-hot Manny Machado was the hero Wednesday, hitting his fourth career walk-off home run in the 12th inning to push the O's past the A's, 8-7, in Baltimore's series victory at Camden Yards.
Machado (aka "Mr. Miami" for Players Weekend) sent his 28th homer of the year off A's reliever Simon Castro on a 1-1 slider that gave the Orioles their ninth walk-off win of the season. The Orioles extended their record to 10-2 in extra-inning games.
"It's good to get that win. It was tough today," Machado said. "They came back. They gave us a hell of a game. Every time we come back like that and win a ballgame, it's going to help us coming into the next series."
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The win moves the Orioles to 3 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second American League Wild Card spot.
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Baltimore entered the ninth with a 7-5 lead, but Orioles closer Zach Britton blew his first save since 2015 -- a streak of 60 straight -- after a Marcus Semien RBI single and a Matt Joyce ("DJ SS") sacrifice fly tied the game at 7, forcing extra innings.
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"I'll tell you what, there are games that you lose and there are games that you fight about as hard as you can possibly fight, and to come back from where we were early in the game, down 6-1, and then score off Britton like that, our guys showed a lot of heart today," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Unfortunately we end up on the losing end, but these guys battled as hard as we've seen them all year."
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Chris Davis ("Crush") launched a solo shot in the eighth to give the Orioles a 7-5 lead and a much-needed insurance run. Trey Mancini got the O's on the board in the fourth on a three-run homer before Ryan Flaherty delivered an RBI single four batters later. In the sixth, Welington Castillo ("Beef") added a two-run blast of his own.
The A's late rally began in the eighth on a two-run home run by Joyce. In the sixth, Semien doubled in Boog Powell before a pair of singles by Matt Olson and Bruce Maxwell ("Baby Prince") knocked in two runs in the seventh.
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Working off 10 days of rest, Orioles starter Dylan Bundy went six-plus innings allowing three runs on seven hits and eight strikeouts to collect his fourth-consecutive quality start.
"Yeah, I felt great. Stuff was coming out good and sharp, so it was good," Bundy said. "You know, I had a good game plan with [Castillo] back there and we executed it for the most part."
A's starter Daniel Gossett, who was recalled from Triple-A prior to Wednesday's start, gave up five runs on eight hits through five innings.
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Castro escapes: Castro gave up a leadoff double to Maxwell in the top of the 10th inning. Pinch-runner Dustin Garneau replaced Maxwell and advanced to third on a groundout by Jed Lowrie, but was stranded after Castro forced a groundout to second followed by a strikeout of Semien to escape trouble.
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"[Castro was] huge," Machado said. "He comes in in tough situations and gets the job done every time. Buck puts him in there in certain situations. He keeps the hold and gives us the opportunity to go out there and give him the 'W.' Those are the little things that we're going to need to win the next games, to get where we need to be."
Britton blows save: Entering the ninth with a 7-5 lead, Britton gave up a leadoff single to Lowrie before giving up a double to Powell to quickly put runners on second and third. Semien sent a single to right to bring the score to 7-6, but Joyce handed the Orioles closer his first blown save since 2015 on a deep sacrifice fly to Adam Jones in center. More >
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"We've been battling in a lot of our games lately," A's third baseman Matt Chapman said. "We obviously fell short today, but it's nice to know that we can come back off a guy like that, who is a really good closer. Just a tough one to swallow today."
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"It's a reminder how hard it is to do. I just called him in my office and congratulated him. You won't see it again. And he does hold the record in my mind, OK? It's historical. That's as good as you'll ever see in any of our lifetimes. It's special, and it's been an honor to watch him do it. I think days like today, the skill level of the teams he's facing, it's unbelievable to dominate in a role like that. It just doesn't happen." -- Orioles manager Buck Showalter on Britton's save streak.
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Davis' home run in the eighth tied him with Rafael Palmeiro (124) for second-most home runs in Oriole Park history. He trails just Jones who has hit 135 homers at Camden Yards.
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WHAT'S NEXT
A's: The A's will enjoy an off-day Thursday before returning to action at the Coliseum on Friday, as they welcome in the Rangers for a three-game set. Right-hander Kendall Graveman, who is 2-2 with a 5.20 ERA in six career starts against Texas, will be on the mound for the 7:05 p.m. PT opener.
Orioles: After an off-day Thursday, the Orioles will travel to Boston on Friday to start a three-game set against the Red Sox. Jeremy Hellickson (7-7, 5.00) will make his fifth start for the Orioles. After logging consecutive quality starts in his first two, Hellickson followed with two shaky outings, allowing a combined 13 runs in 9 2/3 innings. Last time out, he allowed a season-high five home runs to the Angels.
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