Moore Becomes Youngest AL Pitcher to Start 8-0 Since Ruth

Matt Moore became the youngest AL pitcher to begin the season 8-0 since Babe Ruth did it 96 years ago. (Patrick Smith)

Two Clutch Homers by Ibanez Lift Yankees Past Orioles

Yankees outfielder Raul Ibanez celebrates with his teammates after hitting his second homer of the game, a walk-off winner. (Alex Trautwig)

Playoff baseball has not disappointed this October. Tonight was no exception either. With the series tied at one game apiece, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles had a crucial Game 3 to play tonight. With both team's pitching staffs playing well, one knew that runs would be at a premium.

On the mound for the Yankees was Hiroki Kuroda. He pitched very well, but Baltimore made him for his few mistakes. In the top of the third, second baseman Ryan Flaherty hit a solo home run to put the Orioles on the board first. With the score level again in the fifth inning, third baseman Manny Machado took Kuroda deep again for a solo shot. When all was said and done, those were the only two runs Kuroda gave up in 8 1/3 innings of work.

His counterpart, Miguel Gonzalez, had a quality start as well. The only trouble he ran into was in the bottom of the third. Yankees catcher Russell Martin doubled to deep left. The next batter, Eric Chavez, grounded out to first base, but the runner advanced to third. With a man on third base and two outs, legendary shortstop Derek Jeter stepped into the batter's box.

On a two ball, two strike count, Jeter tripled to deep center over the head of Orioles center fielder Adam Jones. This tied the score up 1-1 then. Gonzalez threw seven strong innings of one run ball. In the bottom of the eighth, Orioles reliever Darren O'Day successfully bridged the gap with a scoreless inning of work to protect their 2-1 lead.

This brought Orioles closer Jim Johnson into the game to try and record the final three outs. Yankees left fielder Ichiro Suzuki led off the frame with a liner to left field, but it was caught by Orioles left fielder Nate McLouth for the first out. Next up was supposed to be the scuffling and much maligned third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Instead, Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to pinch hit with outfielder Raul Ibanez. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Ibanez got a hold of the ball and deposited in the short porch in right field. That's all the scoring the Yankees got in the inning, but it was enough to send the game to extra innings tied 2-2.

The next time Ibanez came up to bat was to lead off the bottom of the 12 inning with the score still the same. The very first pitch he saw was crushed as the ball ended up in the right field bleachers once again. Ibanez had not only tied it in the ninth inning with a solo home run, but he won the game with one in the 12th.

The Yankees team couldn't be happier afterwards, including Rodriguez. Despite being the highest-paid player in baseball and one of the greatest power hitters of all-time, he was benched with the game on the line. However, there was no bitterness expressed by Rodriguez after the game. He told Girardi, "Joe, you gotta do exactly what you gotta do."

The Yankees gave it their all and played like a team tonight. They were rewarded with the win they deserved. Now, the Bronx Bombers are one win away from advancing to the ALCS. They will try and get the job done in Game 4, which is tomorrow night at 7:37 pm EST.

MLB Postseason Preview & Predictions

In Friday's AL Wild Card Game, the Orioles will rely on newly acquired starting pitcher Joe Saunders. (Ben Margot)

For each of the ten playoff teams, 162 games are in the books. Two of the teams will only play one more game. Others wait to find out where they will play their next game. Regardless, I am going to go ahead and predict what I think is going to happen for the entire postseason. Call me crazy if you wish, but what do I have to lose.

AL Wild Card Game - Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers - Friday, 8:37 PM EST, TBS

This is a very difficult pick because you don't know what you will get with either team. The Orioles are a young, inexperienced team that must go on the road to play in a high intensity atmosphere. They will turn newly acquired Joe Saunders on the mound. He has pitched well as of late, but has struggled badly against the Rangers in his career. Speaking of the Rangers, they lost nine of their last thirteen games to put themselves in this situation. They will give the ball to rookie Yu Darvish. He been very good lately as well, but will be making his postseason debut.

Prediction: Rangers 3 Orioles 1

NL Wild Card Game - St. Louis Cardinals @ Atlanta Braves - Friday, 5:07 PM EST, TBS

For much of the season, people wondered if the Cardinals would have a chance to defend their status as reigning World Series Champions. They turned it on at the right time in the season to earn the NL's second wild card spot. They will turn to Kyle Lohse to the decisive game. If you told me before the season that Lohse would finish the regular season with a 16-3 record and an ERA of 2.86, I would have told you that you were absolutely crazy, but that is exactly he has accomplished. The Braves successfully avoided the meltdown they experienced last year when they missed the playoffs. They will have Kris Medlen on the mound. While this may seem like an interesing choice, the Braves haven't lost one of his starts in over two years.

Prediction: Braves 5 Cardinals 2

AL Divisional Series - New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers - Begins October 7

Since I have already talked about the Rangers, I will focus on the Yankees here. With the Orioles in hot pursuit, the Yankees had to be superb baseball to remain in first. Second baseman Robinson Cano is one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Raul Ibanez has added some clutch hits. The Yankees pitching has improved lately as well.

Prediction: Yankees 3-1

AL Divisional Series - Oakland Athletics vs. Detroit Tigers - Begins October 6

How about them Athletics? In the stretch of three months, they have gone from 13 games out to winning the AL West. Without any real superstars and the lowest AL payroll. The Tigers held off the Chicago White Sox to win the AL Central. They must now look for a way to slow done the Athletics for one game.

Prediction: Tigers 3-2

NL Divisional Series - Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves - Begins October 7

Since the Braves have already been discussed, the focal point is here to look at the Nationals. Their magical season has earned their team home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. A balanced offense is pushed by a talented pitching staff, lead by Gio Gonzalez.

Prediction: Nationals 3-2

NL Divisional Series - Cincinnati Reds vs. San Francisco Giants - Begins October 6

The Reds have simply played balanced baseball this season. A mostly consistent pitching staff and reliable lineup allow them to easily win the NL Central. The Giants have had their share of ups and downs this season. While certain players have struggled and are no longer available, others have stepped up to fill their holes.

Prediction: Giants 3-2

AL Conference Series - New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers - Begins October 13

While the Tigers may have better individual players, such as Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander, I believe that the Yankees are the better team from top to bottom.

Prediction: Yankees 4-2

NL Conference Series - Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants - Begins October 14

The main difference in this matchup is experience. How much of factor does it play? With a matchup this close, I've decided to use that as my deciding factor.

Prediction: Giants 4-2

World Series - New York Yankees vs. San Francisco Giants - Begins October 24

This would be an excellent matchup in all aspects of the game. When it comes down to separating the two sides, I believe that the Yankees have more depth in their lineup and pitching staff.

Prediction: Yankees 4-1

Bottomline: I am predicting the New York Yankees to win the World Series.

Yankees Power Their Way to AL East Lead Once Again

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer in his first game back in the lineup since September 8. (Elsa)

Entering tonight, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles were tied for the AL East lead. Both teams had one last three-game series against a division rival to end the season. The Yankees are hosting the Boston Red Sox, while the Orioles are in St. Petersburg to take on the Tampa Bay Rays.

Yankees 10 Red Sox 2
 
Sitting 23 games out of first place, the Red Sox simply hoped to play spoiler to the Yankees hopes of a division crown. Those plans got off to an abrupt start Monday night. The Bronx Bombers lived up to their name in the second inning. They tied a club record with four home runs in the inning. Red Sox starting pitcher Clay Buchholz only lasted 1 2/3 innings, giving up eight earned runs on six hits (three home runs).

Following his recovery from a strained left calf, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira returned to the Yankees lineup for the first time since September 8. He greeted Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves with a two-run slam to the second-deck. The Yankees scored nine runs on eight hits in the inning to break the game wide open.

Meanwhile, Yankees ace CC Sabathia was dealing on the mound. He threw eight strong innings, giving up just two runs on four hits while striking out seven. Freddy Garcia came out and threw a eight pitch ninth inning to complete the Yankees 10-2 victory.

Rays 5 Orioles 3

The Rays came into this final series holding onto the slimmest of playoff hopes.  They completed step one Monday night. The game began as a pitchers' duel between Rays starter Alex Cobb and Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen. The Rays struck the first blow of the game in the fourth inning on a solo shot by shortstop Ben Zobrist. In the seventh inning, Orioles catcher Matt Weiters answered with a solo home run of his own.

In the bottom half of the frame, Rays designated hitter Ben Francisco broke the deadlock with a sacrifice fly. Later that inning, catcher Chris Gimenez came through with the big hit, a two-RBI double to deep right. The Rays tapped on one more run in the eight to take the 5-1 lead into the ninth.

In their last at-bats of the game, the Orioles tried to make a comeback. They got halfway there on a two-run home run by right fielder Chris Davis. This forced the Rays to bring in their closer Fernando Rodney. Rodney struggled some, but still managed to close the door on the Rays 5-3 win for his 47th save of the season.

Looking Ahead

The Yankees now lead the AL East by one game. They have decided to start rookie David Phelps tomorrow against Red Sox starter Jon Lester. In the other pivotal matchup, the Orioles will go with Miguel Gonzalez against Rays ace James Shields. If the Yankees win and the Orioles lose, the Yankees will win the division. The Rays must win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Both games tomorrow are scheduled to begin shortly after 7:00.

Beltre's Three Home Runs Power Rangers Past Orioles

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre connects for his first of three home runs against the Orioles Thursday evening. (Tim Heitman)

In Wednesday evening's game, the Texas Rangers crushed the Baltimore Orioles 12-3. One of the main reasons they won so big was the performance by third baseman Adrian Beltre. In each of Beltre's first three at-bats Wednesday evening, he smoked a home run to a different parts of the park. The accomplishment is particularly notable for Adrian Beltre because he has done it before. I will simply list a few of the many notable features of his distinguished accomplishment.

• Beltre's three home runs, which all occurred during the first four innings of the game, totaled an impressive 1,187 feet (average of 396 feet per home run) in total distance.
• Beltre hit two home runs in the fourth inning. He became just the second player in Rangers history to hit two home runs in the same inning.
• This is the second time Beltre has hit three home runs in a game. The last time was Game 4 of the 2011 ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays.
• This means that Beltre joins the company of Albert Pujols, George Brett, Reggie Jackson, and Babe Ruth as the only players to have a three-homer game in both the regular season and postseason.
• In the second inning, Beltre hit his 20th home run of the season. With that milestone accomplished, he became just the ninth third baseman to hit 20 or more home runs in ten or more seasons.

You get the idea. What Adrian Beltre accomplished here is quite rare. The raw power displayed is impressive in any sense of the word. The Rangers apparently like to have their big individual hitting accomplishments against the Orioles. On May 9, outfielder Josh Hamilton hit four home runs in one game at Baltimore. Of course on Wednesday night, Beltre went off on Orioles pitching again. The Rangers are considered to have one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball. Nights like this tend to remind us exactly why that is.

Teagarden's Walk-Off Home Run Lifts Orioles Over Tigers

Taylor Teagarden's first hit as a Baltimore Oriole was a walk-off home run that propelled the Orioles 8-6 over the Tigers. (AP Photo)

It seemed to be just another Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards. The Baltimore Orioles were hosting to the Detroit Tigers in the second of three-game set. However, from the first pitch on, it became abundantly clear that neither of these teams wanted to lose.

Scoring started right away in the first inning. In the top of the frame, first baseman Prince Fielder doubled home center fielder Austin Jackson to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, the Orioles leveled the score when designated hitter Jim Thome doubled home Nick Markakis.

The Orioles offense took the lead in the second inning when second baseman Robert Andino connected on a two-run home run off Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer. The O's added another run in the third inning. Scherzer lasted only five innings, giving up four runs on on nine hits. His counterpart, Wei-Yin Chen, gave up just the one run in six innings of work for the Orioles.

The Orioles took their 4-1 lead into the ninth inning. They gave the ball to their All-Star closer Jim Johnson. Third baseman Miguel Cabrera started off the inning with a single for the Tigers. Johnson induced a fly ball out of Fielder. The next batter was the designated hitter Delmon Young who hit a ground ball to Orioles third baseman Ryan Flaherty. A costly error by Flaherty allowed both runners to be safe.

Next, Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta singled home Cabrera to trim the Orioles lead to 4-2. A double by right fielder Brandon Boesch scored Young to make it a 4-3 game. Johnson struck out pinch-hitter Alex Avila  to make it two outs. Left fielder Quintin Berry singled to left field. Pinch runner Danny Worth scored to tie the game, but Boesch was thrown out at home by Endy Chavez.

The Orioles failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, which meant we were headed to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Avila singled home Young to give the Tigers the 5-4 lead. The Orioles had an answer when center fielder Adam Jones singled to score Markakis to level the score once again.

In the top of the 13th, the Tigers took the lead again on a RBI single by Berry. The Orioles responded again in the bottom half of the frame. Shortstop J.J. Hardy crushed a solo shot off Tigers reliever Joaquin Benoit to tie the score 6-6. With two outs in the inning, Jones was hit by a pitch. Backup catcher Taylor Teagarden was up to bat next. Teagarden got a hold of a pitch from Benoit, and it went out for a two-run, walk-off home run.

Teagarden was the unlikeliest of heroes. He had just been activated from the 60-day disabled list Saturday morning. In his first game as a Baltimore Oriole, Teagarden didn't even expect to play. He only came in the game as a defensive replacement after star catcher Matt Weiters was pinch run for in the 10th inning. Teagarden's first hit as an Oriole turned out to be a walk-off.

The Orioles seem to love extra innings. They have now won ten straight games that have gone to extras. In fact, their 31 extra-inning wins since 2010 are the most of an team in the majors. For Teagarden, it was a dramatic debut. It doesn't get much better than having your first hit with a new ball club be a walk-off home run.

Chris Davis Shines as Designated Pitcher

Photo Credit: Greg M. Cooper/USPW Photo

Little in Sunday's game between the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox went as expected. Poor starting pitching by both teams meant a bullpen-controlled game. Both bullpens got the job done. The problem was they both ran out of pitching. Beginning in the 16th inning, first baseman Chris Davis came in to pitch two innings for the Orioles, while outfielder Darnell McDonald came in the top of the 17th for the Red Sox. The game became the first major league baseball game since 1925 to have two position players come in and pitch.

Davis began the game as the Orioles' designated hitter. Today, hitting just wasn't his thing, as he went 0-8 from the plate with five strikeouts. When Davis was told he would be pitching, he was more than happy to oblige. After the game, he stated, "I was like 'Sweet! I get to try something different today -- because hitting ain't working.'" Making his major league pitching debut, Davis came out and struck out the first batter he faced. After the Orioles gained the lead in the top of the 17th, he got into a little bit of trouble having given up a single and a walk. However, he ended up striking out All-Star slugger Adrian Gonzalez and got McDonald to ground into a game-ending double play. Davis became the first position player to pick up a win as a pitcher, while striking out five times as a hitter. Clearly today Davis shined as a designated pitcher, rather than a hitter.

A side note from the game that is worth pointing out is that the Orioles just keep winning. Their methods may not be traditional, but they are getting the job done. The Orioles' record now stands at a major league-best 19-9. Impressive for a team that hoped merely to finish above .500. The youth movement and the entertaining managing work of Buck Showalter have taken Baltimore by storm. The Orioles are playing great baseball. Now, they just have to prove themselves over the course of a season.