It took thirteen innings between two teams who seem to have forgotten how to hit, but the Orioles finally beat the Yankees to force a game five.
Nate McLouth homered in the top of the fifth inning to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead, but the Yankees tied it in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI ground out from Robinson Cano. The pitching staffs took over from there, until finally in the top of the 13th inning, Manny Machado led off with a double, then scored on J.J. Hardy's double one out later. Hardy was stranded, but Jim Johnson pitched a perfect bottom of the 13th to end the game.
Tomorrow's decisive game 5 will take place at 5:07 p.m. with the winner playing the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. If you're normally still at work at that time, I suggest you take a sick day. You look pretty awful, frankly.
Stay tuned for Paul Folk's full recap, to be posted in the near future.
Go O's!