The Baltimore Orioles had plenty of reasons to be smiling after beating the sliding New York Yankees 11-3 which included three home runs from the likes of Chris Davis, Nelson Cruz and Jonathan Schoop, but seeing Manny Machado going down with an injury was probably a lot less satisfying.
Right now it seems like Machado has a sprained right knee, but an MRI and further examinations will paint a better picture of the situation. Davis actually came in for Machado and turned the game around, hitting his 21st home run of the season, giving the Orioles their first lead of the game after trailing 3-1 through the first couple of innings.
They began their comeback with a single from Adam Jones, followed by David hitting a two-run homer. Jones added more hurt on the Yankees in the 7th with an RBI double, as both Adam Warren and Chase Whitley were pounded hard by the Orioles lineup. Nelson Cruz hit a home run that drove home Jones as well, followed by a three-run homer from Schoop and David Lough coming off the bench to hit an infield triple while also picking up an RBI.
After Bud Norris didn’t have the best of starts, giving up three runs in five innings, things went quite well for the Orioles later on, not allowing a single hit through their four relief pitchers. The Yankees finished hitting an awful 5-for-33, falling to 61-57, losing their third game in a row with two more games to play in Baltimore ahead of them, and an AL East top spot, not to mention the Wild Card chase, slipping away from them.
This is the team we have. We’ve got to go win with the guys that we have. You can’t sit around and be negative. We have to stay optimistic. You’ve got to have a lot of faith in your teammates and then you’re going to get the job done. I really don’t think it makes a difference who you’re playing. We’ve got to find ways to win games. It’s not like you can exhale when you’re playing a team that’s not in front of us.