HBT: 'Oriole magic' comes up short in Game 5

Nobody gave the Orioles much of a chance in the one-game Wild Card playoff against the Rangers last Friday, so it?s not surprising that they entered the ALDS as the underdogs against the big bad Yankees. However, this series followed a very similar path to how their regular season played out. They surprised, they overachieved, they made the Yankees sweat. But ultimately, they fell a little short.

The Orioles lost to the Yankees 3-1 this evening in a decisive Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. They just couldn?t get much going against CC Sabathia, collecting just four hits while striking out eight times. They had their best chance in the eighth inning, but failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded situation.

Save for a rough ninth inning by closer Jim Johnson in Game 1, the pitching wasn?t the problem for the Orioles in this series. They allowed three runs or less in four out of the five games. None of their starting pitchers allowed more than two runs. But their bats didn?t show up. Aside from Nate McLouth, that is. It?s tough to win when you hit .187 as a team. To name some prominent examples, Adam Jones went 2-for-23 (.087) while Matt Wieters went 3-for-20 (.150) and Mark Reynolds went 3-for-19 (.158). One wonders how this series might have played out had Nick Markakis been healthy.

While the Orioles fell a little short in this series, it doesn?t diminish what they accomplished this season. Buck Showalter?s group managed to breathe life back into a fan base at a time where many long-suffering fans in the Baltimore/D.C. area were tempted to switch their allegiance to the Nationals. It?s unlikely that the Orioles will be able to repeat their historic success in one-run and extra-inning games next season, so if they are going to win again, they will probably need a new formula. But the franchise is alive and relevant again. And that?s a good thing for baseball.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/12/oriole-magic-comes-up-just-short-against-yankees-in-alds/related/

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