Adam Jones makes MLB history with homer in Seattle

When Adam Jones blasted Josh Kinney's pitch over the fence in the 11th inning in Seattle to help the Orioles gain a sweep of the Mariners, he made Major League Baseball history. Jones is the first player ever to have at least four homers in the 11th inning or later in one season. That great stat comes from Elias Sports. Jones is batting .261 (6-for-23) when he hits in extra innings in 2012, and four of the six hits are homers. He has 10 RBIs and an OPS of 1.153 when batting in extra frames. Clutch indeed. Of his 30 homers, 19 have either tied the game or given the Orioles the lead as last night's homer did. The Orioles are 22-8 when Jones homers. With several players having such strong seasons, Jones is a leading candidate, but maybe not a lock, to be the Most Valuable Oriole this year as he was last year. That says so much more about this team than anything Jones has failed to do, because he has done plenty for this club. Here is a leftover stat or two from the Seattle series. In the last two games, over 29 innings, O's pitching gave up just 20 hits and three runs for an ERA of 0.93. The Orioles bullpen pitched 15 2/3 shutout innings with 17 strikeouts. The Orioles are now 61-9 when they get a quality start and 34-2 when their starter goes seven innings or more as Joe Saunders did last night. The Orioles now have a 15-game extra-inning win streak. The only club to ever win more consecutive games in extra innings in a season was the 1949 Indians with 17 in a row. The Orioles are now 30-13 over the past 43 games and 40-24 since the All-Star break. Now it's on to Boston. The Birds are 8-4 this year vs. the Red Sox, 5-1 at Fenway Park and 13-6 in their last 19 games against Boston.