Wrapping up a 3-2 11-inning win on opening day

A walk-off home run to break a 2-2- tie in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Blue Jays.

Practically writes itself.

Mark Trumbo extended the Orioles' winning streak on opening day to seven in a row by launching a Jason Grilli pitch over the left field fence with two outs for a 3-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 45,667 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles were 3-for-26, all singles, since Trumbo's RBI double in the third inning. The offense shut down similar to the wild card game at Rogers Centre that ended in the 11th with Edwin Encarnacion's walk-off home run against Ubaldo Jiménez.

Trumbo has six career walk-off home runs, the last one before today coming on Sept. 23 against the Diamondbacks. He didn't homer in spring training and it didn't matter in the least.

"Can you imagine me walking up to Mark after hitting X-number of home runs last year, 'Mark, what's wrong with your power down in spring training?' " said manager Buck Showalter. "He'd give me that, 'Really?' He hit some in BP. It never even crossed my mind. It really didn't.

"He's really evolved as a hitter. He knows who he is."

Showalter brought in closer Zach Britton this afternoon to pitch the ninth inning in a 2-2 tie against the Blue Jays.

Practically writes itself.

The jokes, I mean.

Britton wasn't used in the wild card game, for anyone who actually forgot about it. Showalter still hasn't heard the end of it.

None of us have heard the end of it.

Britton allowed two singles before getting a double play and returning to the dugout on nine pitches, and he stranded two in the 10th after a walk and Steve Pearce's third single of the day.

If you're going to use Britton in a 2-2 game against the Blue Jays, really use him.

Britton wasn't comfortable with his mechanics in Sarasota and rushed to get back on track after missing time with soreness in his left side.

"He was good today," Showalter said. "It was funny today, I was talking to him in the outfield during BP. They played flat ground catch. They have a routine all of them go through. He said everything kind of clicked. He said, 'I was playing catch.' It was just the environment, the culture of being back home, being comfortable. Those are things that you can't quantify. How do you teach that in Sarasota? Just the feel.

"A lot of times the memories of good things here and how comfortable you feel, it kind of takes over the physical part of the body. But he felt good today."

Darren O'Day wasn't available today because of the flu and he could go on the disabled list if unable to pitch after Tuesday's off-day.

"Hopefully, not using him today or tomorrow, he'll be available Wednesday," Showalter said. "If not, we're going to need to think about DLing him. I really want to make sure he's healthy to start the year."

Manny Machado provided the defensive gem of the day with a diving stop along the line and throw from his knee while falling backward to rob Devon Travis in the 11th.

"Really good defensive plays today," Showalter said. "Obviously, Manny, my gosh. There's a part of his ability that very seldom do I have to play him on the line because of his range. I thought that play was a great example of it. We may lean that way. I'll give him a signal every once in a while about leaning that way with a guy like Pearce who's a bottom-hand hooker with that pitch down and in, but it's just such a weapon for us.

"We never take it for granted. For a guy who played shortstop, he's really ... We've been very fortunate to have some very good third basemen."

Said Pearce: "That's just another Monday for Manny. He makes those plays all the time, and it hurts when he does it against you."

It hurt Machado, too. He rolled his left wrist and was grimacing while flat on his back, but he stayed in the game, fielded José Bautista's grounder on a force play to end the inning and led off the bottom half.

Machado was icing the wrist after the game.

"He's got a pretty good skin mark on top and that was what I was worried about was how he got it caught up underneath him," Showalter said.

"What's better, the play or the throw? Who else makes that throw? Nobody? I see stuff happen every night.

Kevin Gausman was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings, the second scoring on Ezequiel Carrera's RBI double off Mychal Givens. He allowed five hits, walked four and struck out four, and he left with his pitch count at 103.

"It always goes back to your starting pitcher," Showalter said. "Gaus was one of the keys today."

Brad Brach worked a scoreless eighth before Britton entered the game. Tyler Wilson earned the win with a scoreless 11th, allowing a two-out single before the force play.

The Orioles have won 14 of their last 17 openers and are unbeaten under Showalter.

"I'll have the windows down going about 5 mph down Pratt today," Showalter said. "It's great. It's one of those days you reach back for and realize why this is why you do what you do.

"You almost feel guilty being down in Sarasota in that weather, knowing what's happening up here. We look at the weather all the time. We have homes here and very engaged and connected with what's going on in Baltimore. But it's a day when you want the weather to be good.

"The birds showed up in the back yard this morning and the grass is starting to turn green and it's baseball season. Unfortunately, it doesn't always cooperate with you on the scoreboard, but today it did. It was a good game. It would be a lot more enjoyable if you knew how it was going to turn out."

Everyone seemed to have fun anyway.

"People make a lot of effort and sacrifices to come out here and work around the day," Showalter said, "and you really want them to go home and it's a great opportunity to have them feel as good about us as we do about them."