Baltimore Orioles: Hyun-Soo Kim saved his best for last
The Baltimore Orioles were all but done for in last night’s game at Toronto; then Hyun-Soo Kim stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter.
Buck Showalter looked down the Baltimore Orioles’ bench in the ninth inning last night and found Hyun-Soo Kim. Showalter proceeded to tell Kim to grab a bat, as he was going to pinch hit for Nolan Reimold with the Orioles trailing 2-1 (all of this through his interpreter of course). This was an all-important game of course, and one the Orioles couldn’t afford to lose.
Kim had smacked a two-run homer previously on Sunday to lead the Orioles to victory over Arizona. Kim worked the count full with one on and one out. Then he sent a deep ine drive out towards Rogers Centre’s right field area…
Chris Tillman struggled a bit in what could be his penultimate stat of the season. However he also kept the Orioles in the game and left the in a spot to win. Tillman’s line: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 earned), 3 BB, 2 K. The one unearned run came as a result of Ezequiel Carrera getting on board due to a Chris Davis fielding error. He advanced to third on a Tillman throwing error, and then scored on a sac fly-RBI by Encarnacion.
Kevin Pillar’s sac fly-RBI in the second gave Toronto a 2-0 lead. And on we played – for some time. But the Orioles did get a couple of very key defensive plays over the course of the game. Nolan Reimold made two sliding catches preventing what would have been big hits for Toronto. In fact on his catch in the sixth he managed to double-up Jose Bautista, who had already pre-determined that the ball was going to fall in for a hit.
However in these huge spots late in big games, bullpens usually come up big. And the Orioles’ bullpen did just that in relief of Tillman. Donnie Hart, Mychael Givens, Brian Duensing (who was credited with the win) and Zach Britton combined for just one walk and five strikeouts. And that left the door open for the Orioles’ later heroics.
The Birds brought the score to within 2-1 on Mark Trumbo’s solo homer in the eighth. But that’s all the Orioles could put across in that inning. In the ninth Jonathan Schoop got aboard with a single, and Buck Showalter used Michael Bourn to pinch-hit – and he promptly stole second base. That’s when Showalter looked down the bench to find Kim as a pinch hitter.
…and by now, you know that the deep shot to right field cleared the wall and went into the Orioles’ bullpen. Kim’s two-run homer gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead, which turned into about as unlikely a 3-2 win as one can imagine after Zach Britton sent Toronto down 1-2-4 in the last of the ninth. So Hyun-Soo Kim, the guy that many people (myself included) felt shouldn’t have been on the roster on Opening Day, possibly saved the season.
Big time players make big time plays in the moment. And that’s exactly what Kim did in Toronto last night. That home run sent an Orioles team from the depths of despair to the elation of victory. In a year full of big moments, look no further than that one as possibly the biggest – if the Orioles are able to make it to the post-season.
The win brought the Orioles back to within one game of Toronto for the top wild card spot. They trimmed their magic number to four games with the win, however it didn’t move any further because Detroit ended up beating Cleveland. However those two teams play a 1 PM matinee this afternoon – so it’s possible that the magic number could be three before the Orioles even take the field tonight. Detroit then heads to Atlanta for their final series.
The series at Rogers Centre concludes this evening. Ubaldo Jimenez will be on the mound for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Marcus Stroman. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
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