Showalter speaks after 7-6, 12-inning win
By Roch Kubatko
On the flight home from Seattle, Orioles manager Buck Showalter contemplated whether to bring up an extra position player to replace reliever T.J. McFarland, who was going on the bereavement list. The discussion lasted more than 30 minutes before he decided that the club needed a full bullpen with the Angels coming to town.
Starter Chris Tillman lasted only five innings tonight and the game moved into the 12th before Manny Machado's walk-off home run. Showalter made the right call.
Machado's leadoff homer off Angels reliever Cory Rasmus gave the Orioles a 7-6 victory and moved them a season-high 13 games above .500 while Chris Davis stayed home with flu-like symptoms. They're 12-3 in extra innings and have won the last seven.
"To do that, you've got to have a good effort out of your bullpen and we did tonight," Showalter said.
Orioles relievers allowed one run in seven innings, with Ryan Webb picking up the win.
Preston Guilmet, recalled to take McFarland's spot on the roster, was the only reliever who didn't pitch tonight.
"My old thing for years has been to err on the side of pitching and the 50-50 move err on the side of defense, so we were feeling pretty good about having Guilmet here," Showalter said.
"Darren (O'Day) messed up, only had five pitches, so he had to go an extra inning. He had, what, 11 or 12? 15? Somewhere in there. He was giving me the look like I have another inning. I looked the other way."
Here's more from Showalter:
On the extra-inning success
"It's just a mindset. Chris (Davis) wasn't going to play tonight, Matt (Wieters) went out. ... Somebody's got to step up. I think it's a good mentality that you have to have, because there's so many challenges the schedule presents and more importantly, the competition presents. That's a really good team over there. Just picking your poison the whole game long."
On Angels starter Jered Weaver
"He wasn't as crisp as he was at their place. We were fortunate. Otherwise, when he's right, the approach is a challenge to make a big difference. We just caught him on a down night, just like they caught Tilly (Tillman) a little bit. We know what an offensive team they are, so we knew were going to have to do some things. Usually, giving up those type of runs early, you don't like your chances against him. I actually thought Adam (Jones') home run to answer right away gave a good mentality to the game."
On Ryan Flaherty not covering second base on Josh Hamilton's grounder to J.J. Hardy in the seventh
"He's where he's supposed to be. He's not too far over. He told J.J., 'I'm going to try to get there. I might be able to get there.' And he tried to get there and J.J. made the decision to throw to first. And hats off to Hamilton for running the ball out. And hats off to (Albert) Pujols for getting out there with a big enough lead to make him throw across the diamond."
On the games between the Orioles and Angels being close
"I think it's a sign of two good bullpens. You're talking about the run differential. But they're capable of putting up a lot of crooked numbers. What the future of the season holds for us, I haven't gone there yet. I'm looking forward to the day after tomorrow. They're going to be somebody else's problem for a while. They're a pretty impressive group."
Starter Chris Tillman lasted only five innings tonight and the game moved into the 12th before Manny Machado's walk-off home run. Showalter made the right call.
Machado's leadoff homer off Angels reliever Cory Rasmus gave the Orioles a 7-6 victory and moved them a season-high 13 games above .500 while Chris Davis stayed home with flu-like symptoms. They're 12-3 in extra innings and have won the last seven.
"To do that, you've got to have a good effort out of your bullpen and we did tonight," Showalter said.
Orioles relievers allowed one run in seven innings, with Ryan Webb picking up the win.
Preston Guilmet, recalled to take McFarland's spot on the roster, was the only reliever who didn't pitch tonight.
"My old thing for years has been to err on the side of pitching and the 50-50 move err on the side of defense, so we were feeling pretty good about having Guilmet here," Showalter said.
"Darren (O'Day) messed up, only had five pitches, so he had to go an extra inning. He had, what, 11 or 12? 15? Somewhere in there. He was giving me the look like I have another inning. I looked the other way."
Here's more from Showalter:
On the extra-inning success
"It's just a mindset. Chris (Davis) wasn't going to play tonight, Matt (Wieters) went out. ... Somebody's got to step up. I think it's a good mentality that you have to have, because there's so many challenges the schedule presents and more importantly, the competition presents. That's a really good team over there. Just picking your poison the whole game long."
On Angels starter Jered Weaver
"He wasn't as crisp as he was at their place. We were fortunate. Otherwise, when he's right, the approach is a challenge to make a big difference. We just caught him on a down night, just like they caught Tilly (Tillman) a little bit. We know what an offensive team they are, so we knew were going to have to do some things. Usually, giving up those type of runs early, you don't like your chances against him. I actually thought Adam (Jones') home run to answer right away gave a good mentality to the game."
On Ryan Flaherty not covering second base on Josh Hamilton's grounder to J.J. Hardy in the seventh
"He's where he's supposed to be. He's not too far over. He told J.J., 'I'm going to try to get there. I might be able to get there.' And he tried to get there and J.J. made the decision to throw to first. And hats off to Hamilton for running the ball out. And hats off to (Albert) Pujols for getting out there with a big enough lead to make him throw across the diamond."
On the games between the Orioles and Angels being close
"I think it's a sign of two good bullpens. You're talking about the run differential. But they're capable of putting up a lot of crooked numbers. What the future of the season holds for us, I haven't gone there yet. I'm looking forward to the day after tomorrow. They're going to be somebody else's problem for a while. They're a pretty impressive group."
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