Well, O's fans, our season is over. I won't blow sunshine at you by talking about what a great year it was or what hope there is for the future, there is time for that at a later date.
The Orioles picked an absolutely awful time to slump offensively, but slump they did. The heart of their lineup was abysmal the entire series and they never scored more than three runs in any game. So now the New York Yankees will wait for the Tigers to arrive for the start of the ALCS, and hopefully the boys from Detroit will beat the snot out of them. Let's not forget that the Yankees haven't been hitting either.
Jason Hammel, much like all of the other starting pitchers this series, was good. He didn't allow a hit through three, and ultimately gave up two runs through 5 2/3 innings. Troy Patton came on in relief and gave up a homer to Curtis Granderson, and Pedro Strop and Brian Matusz combined to pitch the 8th, with Matusz throwing just one pi
CC Sabathia is a very good pitcher, this much we know. And he was good tonight, giving up just one run in his first seven innings of work. He got into trouble in the 8th, loading the bases and giving up a run, but he got out of it by striking out Nate McLouth and getting J.J. Hardy to ground out to shortstop. He came back out for the 9th inning and finished the job, retiring Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and Matt Wieters.
Be sure to check back later for a complete recap and analysis of tonight's game, and thanks for being the best community on SB Nation (even if things did get testy there at the end). We have an exciting off season ahead of us, I just wish it wasn't starting so soon.