It was a remarkable performance by Orioles' third baseman Manny Machado. He hit a two-run homer in the third inning, a solo homer in the fifth and a walk-off grand slam in the ninth.
The Orioles hit four homers before Machado batted in the ninth and yet they were on their way to a homestand-opening 7-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. But Machado's blast to center won the game and turned the night into a stunning 9-7 win.
Here is a list of the 10 players that have hit three grand slams in their entire Orioles careers, counting the postseason: Brady Anderson, Paul Blair, Mike Devereaux, Reggie Jackson, Nick Markakis, John Lowenstein, Curt Blefary, Bobby Bonilla, Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora.
That group hit three grand slams each in their Oriole careers. Machado has hit three grand slams in his last 11 games and two in his past four games.
Machado has hit seven career grand slams and six have come over the last two seasons, which leads MLB. Machado is only the third player since at least 1913 to hit three or more grand slams in consecutive years, according to baseball-reference.com. The other two are Richie Sexson in 2005-06 and Joe Rudi in 1978-79.
Two of those grand slams in the past 11 games have been hit against Mike Trout and his Angels. The one Machado hit Aug. 7 in the seventh inning in Anaheim broke a 2-2 tie as the Orioles won that night 6-2. Last night it was a walk-off winner.
Most grand slams by an Oriole, counting postseason:
16 - Eddie Murray
8 - Cal Ripken Jr., Chris Hoiles, Chris Davis
7 - Manny Machado, Boog Powell
Here are Machado's stats when batting this year with the bases loaded - he is 7-for-11 with three homers and 20 RBIs. That is a batting average of .636 and slugging percentage of 1.455.
In 12 games since Aug. 6, Machado is batting .370 (20-for-54) with seven homers and 25 RBIs. He has four games of at least four RBIs in that span. With 81 RBIs for the year, Machado is now five behind Jonathan Schoop's team lead of 86. Schoop is tied for third in the AL in RBIs and Machado is now sixth.
Last Aug. 7, Machado hit three homers against Chicago at U.S. Cellular Field. On that Sunday afternoon Machado homered three times in the first three innings. He took the full nine to do it last night.
Here is the list of Orioles to homer three times in a game. It has happened 22 times via 16 different players: Boog Powell (three times), Eddie Murray (three times), Machado (two times), Chris Davis (two times), Curt Blefary, Paul Blair, Bobby Grich, Don Baylor, Dan Ford, Lee Lacy, Juan Beniquez, Randy Milligan, Cal Ripken Jr., Roberto Alomar, Albert Belle and Nick Markakis.
Of course more happened last night than just Machado hitting homers. Jeremy Hellickson gave up a career-high five homers, Anthony Santander had his first major league hit and Tim Beckham had two more hits to name a few things.
Some clubhouse quotes:
Santander on his first MLB hit and then scoring on the walk-off slam: "I felt very good. Thanks to God. Just looking for the opportunity to get on base and give the opportunity to the team to get the win. No, I could not imagine something like this. But this was amazing, something I'm never going to forget."
Hellickson on his poor outing: "Just left too many pitches up in the zone and out over the plate. Kind of got in a groove there, third and fourth innings and then left another offspeed pitch over the plate. Just didn't execute many pitches tonight. I didn't do my part."
Beckham on Machado: "That was impressive and fun to be a part of, man. Sometimes you can't put words together for a game like that. I'm happy for him. He's coming up big for us."
From the strange stat department, this was the Orioles first win on a Friday since they beat Boston 3-2 on June 2. They broke a 10-game Friday losing streak.
Manny MASHado! 💥💥💥
-- Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 19, 2017
Third time is a...Charm City #walkoff grand slam! #Birdland âš¾ï¸ pic.twitter.com/njb6LlT8AX
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