The weekend started with baseball, as the O's took on Boston and John Lester. John Lester had never lost a decision against the Orioles, going 14-0 leading into his start Friday Night. Starting against Lester was Orioles pitcher, Miguel Gonzalez. Gonzalez was once a minor leaguer for the Red Sox, so this game posted an opportunity for him to get some revenge on a team the looked past him this offseason. Both pitches pitched great, each giving their team an opportunity to win, so this one really came down to the batters. In this game, Wieters (coming off of a rare two days off) came up huge for the O's with a 3 RBI night. O's pitchers were able to hold off the Red Sox bats, limiting them to just 2 runs. The O's won 4-2 and were able to stay just one game back of the AL East lead. With this win, Baltimore was able to jump out of the gates on a very important weekend.
Today was just about what you would expect from the Orioles, especially when they are playing in Boston this season. Nothing can be settle in a 9 inning game when in Boston, having played 3 extra-inning games so far this season. The O's were 8-4 against Boston so far this year, and 6-1 when playing in Fenway. This game featured two struggling pitchers, who continued their struggles against each other today. Fortunately, they struggle about as equally as possible. Heading into the 6th inning it was tied 3-3 when Flaherty tripled to deep center field, scoring Davis and Machado, giving the O's a 5-3 lead. Due to a Adam Jones solo home run, the O's took a 6-3 lead into the 7th inning. Arrieta came in and gave up two runs in the 7th, and Strop allowed one in the 8th, eventually tying the game up at 6, setting up yet another extra inning game. Action resumed in the 12 as the O's bats came back to life, scoring 3 runs to make it 9-6. For Baltimore this was great, it set up Jim Johnson to do what he does best, close the game out for a win. Jim Johnson recorded his 47th save and the O's 16th consecutive extra-inning victory. Unfortunately for the O's, the Yankees were once again able to beat the A's in extras, so they are still 1 game back for the AL East lead, but remain in control of the 1st wild card position.
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| American League East standings as of 9/22 |
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| American League Wild Card Standings as of 9/22 |
This sets the stage for a crucial Sunday for both cities. The Orioles will look to close out their second sweep of Boston at Fenway this season, while the Ravens will look to bounce back from a heartbreak loss to the Eagles, against none other than Tom Brady and the Patriots.
This match up between The Patriots and The Ravens could not be more intriguing for sports fans. In a season that has already been full of surprises, the NFL appears to have done at least one thing right (finally), the put the biggest match up of the weekend in primetime. The Ravens and Patriots both enter this weekend as surprising 1-1 teams. Most NFL analysts would have predicted this match up to be two 2-0 teams both trying to avoid the seasons first loss and looking seize the opportunity to take control of the AFC. But as ESPN's Chris Berman always says, "thats why they play the game." Neither team has had a losing record in quite some time, The Ravens since 2008 and the Patriots not since 2003. The Ravens come into this game on a 11 game home winning streak, but have the vivid memory of losing to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game stuck in their minds.
This weekend has already proven to be as spectacular as promised for these two cities, with two exciting baseball games, can they finish it even stronger with Sunday afternoon Baseball and Sunday night Football?
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| What could be more exciting than watching two future Hall of Famers go at it live in primetime? |
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