Baseball isn’t normally a game where one player can just take over and change the result based on his actions and his actions alone. It’s not like basketball where the team with the best overall player on the court normally wins out, and it’s not like football where having a good quarterback alone can lift you into playoff contention in the NFL. In baseball, one player doesn’t normally dominate and drag their team to victory by himself. However, Manny Machado tried his very best to buck that trend with the gargantuan performance that he delivered on Friday night.
Manny Machado unleashed his fury on the Angels
Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball admires Manny Machado’s amazing performance on Friday night against the Angels.
Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images
The Orioles were down 5-0 at one point against the Angels, but they continued to scratch and claw their way out of that hole for the entirety of the game, and Machado played a huge role in that comeback. He started his attack on LA’s pitching staff in the third inning by turning a seven-pitch duel into a two-run dinger. His next at-bat only lasted three pitches, but the end result was the same — a home run. By that time, the O’s had five runs on the board but the comeback wasn’t complete as the Angels still had seven. There was still work to be done, but Machado wasn’t done, either.
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By the time the bottom of the ninth inning rolled around, the Angels still had their two-run lead, but it was an extremely tenuous lead and things got especially dangerous when the O’s loaded the bases with just one out. Machado had an opportunity to turn this into a night that Baltimore fans wouldn’t forget for a long time, and he delivered. Keynan Middleton gave Machado a meaty ball right down the middle of the plate to smack, and he smacked it right into Zach Britton’s glove in the bullpen. The comeback was complete, the O’s had won the game, and Machado had completed one of the most dominating single-game performances by a batter in recent memory.
With the way the AL Wild Card is loooking right now, every game is crucial. It’s still a bit early to say whether or not this will be a major moment in the race for either team, but if Baltimore makes the playoffs, they’ll have Machado’s otherworldly effort on a muggy night in August to thank as part of the effort to get them into October baseball again.
- Lost in last night’s MachadoMania is the fact that the reigning AL MVP was on the field playing for the other field. They’re also in the playoff race and if they do make the postseason, Grant Brisbee believes that Trout needs to be elected MVP yet again.
- Byron Buxton was a busy man on Friday night. Not only did he hit a triple, but he also hit an inside-the-park home run in extremely speedy fashion.
- The Yankees and Red Sox had another entertaining ending on Friday night, as Boston rallied late to steal one from their rivals.
- Aroldis Chapman hasn’t looked like himself as of late, and Joel Sherman thinks that this could turn into a “pricey problem” for the Yankees.
- The Dodgers pulled off a waiver trade and took Curtis Granderson off of the Mets’ hands. Talk about depth!
- Max Scherzer has been placed on the DL, and things may get precarious for the Nationals in their quest to finally make it to the NLCS, at least.
- The Cardinals led the Pirates 11-3 during the eighth inning of last night’s game. They eventually won 11-10. Yikes!
- Jay Bruce probably became a fan favorite in Cleveland after his performance played a huge role in bopping the Royals.
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