Tough night at the office: Machado booed, three batters hit, walk-off loss

Well, some Orioles fans may be waking up this morning still feeling that gut punch from just after midnight.

The Oakland A's entered the last of the ninth behind 4-2 and Zach Britton came on. He entered with an ERA of 1.30 and was riding a 10-inning scoreless streak.

But an impressive win turned into a tough loss in a span of six pitches. Yoenis Cespedes came up with an infield single on an 0-2 pitch. Brandon Moss blooped a single on a 1-0 pitch. Josh Donaldson hit a walk-off three-run homer on the first pitch. Briton had allowed just three homers on the season in 48 1/3 innings.

Sure the Orioles were stunned, but now they have to bounce back. What other choice do they have?

When the Orioles lost in a similar fashion at Yankee Stadium on June 20, they outscored New York 14-1 to win the final two games of that series.

Now how will they respond against the team with the best record in baseball? A team that has won seven in a row and 12 of 13 at home.

For a while, it looked like the Orioles would win this game thanks to Manny Machado's two-run homer in the seventh. After getting booed loudly, Machado would have the last laugh and the Orioles would beat Jeff Samardzija in one impressive win to start this tough 10-game trip.

Now they have to bounce back tonight. Again, there is no other option here.

The A's won 5-4 on the scoreboard last night and when it came to hit batters, the A's were ahead there as well, three to none.

I know some fans think that was questionable and we did see J.J. Hardy get hit on the helmet and Adam Jones get hit with a pitch up and in.

Should the Orioles retaliate? I don't think so. The best way to do that is to win. To show the A's and their Manny-booing fans they can bounce back from such a tough loss.

Oakland has now pulled out two one-run wins against the Orioles on the season in going 3-1 against Baltimore with wins in the 11th and ninth innings.

The Orioles are now 42-4 in games where they lead after eight innings this year. Amazingly, they went 75-1 in 2012 when they led after eight. Before you say good teams don't lose that many games when leading after eight, note that Oakland is 47-4. Two losing teams have much better records, with Boston at 32-0 and Tampa Bay at 38-2.

If you are an Orioles player or fan, there is plenty to be ornery about today. The blown lead and three hit batters coming in a game where you saw the constant booing of Machado.

Suddenly, the O's and A's are a hot rivalry. Can't-miss baseball.

So that leads to tonight's game. Can the O's bounce back and will any O's pitches find their way to the back of an Oakland player tonight?