There are Orioles fans out there who are a) adults, and b) have never really followed their team in the playoffs. Maybe they were just a grade-schooler in 1997. Who knows? Jeffrey Maier was born in the same year as James Loney and Jonathan Broxton, for example of how long ago it's been.
Orioles, Yankees threaten, but no score yet
And they approached these playoffs with such optimism! But no one could prepare them for the stress. And in the playoffs, when your team doesn't execute, there's stress. Manny Machado led off the second inning with a walk (good), and Nate McLouth doubled him to third (even better). Phil Hughes was in a pickle.
But J.J. Hardy grounded back to the pitcher, which turned into a fielder's choice with Machado breaking on the contact play. With runners on first and third with one out, Chris Davis waved at an ugly breaking ball for strike three. Adam Jones grounded out to end the inning.
These things aren’t so fun, are they? Also, that whole Ibanez thing from yesterday probably let you in on that. I’ll shut up now.
The good news is that it cuts both ways. Jayson Nix opened the bottom-half of the inning with a double, setting it up well for the top of the order. But Joe Saunders struck out Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, and Mark Teixeira -- all swinging -- to get out of the inning. Just like Nix to set it up, and the rest of the Yankees to let him down. It's still scoreless after three.
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