Trey Mancini: "This is a pretty special night for sure"

The Orioles' Trey Mancini had gone 21 games without a homer. Then tonight he hit one in the ninth inning to tie the game, and again in the 11th to win it.

It was a remarkable performance by a player who didn't even start the game, and by a team that trailed 6-1 in the eighth. The Orioles trailed 5-3 in the ninth and won in extras last night and trailed 6-2 in the ninth tonight and won in extras.

So, some Oriole magic was seen at the Yard. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-6 in 11 innings to get to 31-26 and are 9-1 in extra-inning games.

Per STATS: Mancini is the first Oriole to hit a pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning or later and then hit another homer in the same game. Mancini is the second Oriole to hit a game-tying homer in the ninth or later and then hit a walk-off homer in the same game. Mike Young did that on May 28, 1987.

Also, Mancini is the third Oriole to homer in the ninth and in extras in the same game, joining Boog Powell (1966) and Eddie Murray (1980).

After a Joey Rickard sac fly and a J.J. Hardy RBI double cut Pittsburgh's lead in the ninth to 6-4, Mancini batted with two outs and Hardy on second. The count went to 2-2 and he fouled off three straight sliders. Then Mancini did something surprising. He looked for a pitch he had not seen in the first seven pitches of that at-bat against Pirates lefty Tony Watson.

"He had some pitches there," Mancini said. "Threw me a lot of sliders that almost hit me and I swung at them. Those fooled me a little bit. But as the at-bat went on, I kind of relaxed a little bit and calmed down. When he got me 2-2, he had thrown a fastball/slider mix the whole time. I thought maybe he would come with a changeup. So I kind of just sold out on that being the pitch and, luckily, I guessed right there, and he left it up."

Mancini drove it out to right-field to bring the Camden Yards crowd to its feet and tie the game 6-6.

Then two innings later, Caleb Joseph drew a two-out walk in the 11th against Wade LeBlanc. That put runners on first and second and gave Mancini another swing. This time he got a first-pitch cutter and smoked it into the left field stands for the walk-off win.

Two swings in a three-inning span gave Mancini a remarkable off-the-bench, 2-for-2 night with two homers and five RBIs. They were his eighth and ninth homers, and this was his third career multi-homer game. It was his first career walk-off hit. It was the Orioles' second straight walk-off win, sixth of the year and third by a home run.

Mancini was asked where these homers rank in his career, and surprisingly, they don't make No. 1 on the list.

"This is a pretty special night for sure," Mancini said. "As of right now, I'd say it's a pretty close toss-up for what moment. I'd still say maybe my first home run. With my mom being there. And her reaction in the stands. That was, you know, something I don't know if it can ever be topped on a personal level. But tonight was a pretty special night too, and a great team win here.

"Yeah, was definitely something I wasn't expecting before the game tonight. Baseball is a game where you never know what can happen. I can't say enough about the rest of the team here. We're down 6-2 in the ninth and everyone battles back and has great at-bats. Gave me the opportunity to come up there in the ninth. Without that, none of this happens."

Was Mancini thinking home run when he batted the first time?

"I feel, like everybody in that situation, it is probably in the back of your mind. You have to suppress that, at least I do. Some maybe can think home run and it happens more often when they do. I was trying to drive a ball to right-center and keep the game going there. Definitely wasn't thinking home run, and if I was, I don't think the result would have been the same."

The late-inning dramatics lifted the Orioles from what looked like a lackluster loss to an amazing win and a 6-3 homestand.

"That was a great homestand for us. It is always great to come back here and play. We've had a lot of success here. Yeah, love playing here at Camden. Hopefully, we can take this momentum on the road with us," Mancini said.