American League Game Summary - Detroit at Baltimore
Baltimore, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - So much for those three aces.
The Baltimore Orioles battered the Detroit Tigers' leaky bullpen in the eighth inning again.
And Delmon Young added to his already impressive postseason resume.
Young hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead three-run double as part of a four-run eighth inning and the Orioles rallied past the Tigers, 7-6, in Game 2 of the American League Division Series to put them on the brink of elimination.
Baltimore has now scored 12 runs in the eighth over the first two games of the set after plating eight during Thursday's 12-3 Game 1 win.
The Orioles trailed 6-3 before Joba Chamberlain got Alejandro De Aza to ground out to start the eighth, but it was the only out he'd record. Chamberlain hit Adam Jones with a pitch and consecutive singles by Nelson Cruz and Steve Pearce brought home Jones.
Joakim Soria (0-1) took over on the mound and walked J.J. Hardy to load the bases. A first-pitch-swinging Young then ripped a slider down the left-field line to clear the bases. Hardy was just able to slide past catcher Alex Avila to beat Ian Kinsler's throw to the plate.
"Any time we have an opportunity and get guys on, we think we can win," Young said.
Young, the 2012 ALCS MVP while with the Tigers, is a career .271 postseason hitter (32-of-118) with nine homers and 21 RBI.
Zach Britton fired a 1-2-3 ninth for his first postseason save. Baltimore will look for the series sweep Sunday in Detroit. The Tigers will trot out the third of their three straight AL Cy Young Award winners in David Price.
"We're 0-2, we understand it," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "If you win Game 3, you look to Game 4, but you don't look past the day in front of you."
Nick Markakis smacked a two-run homer, Cruz posted two hits and a run scored and Jones tallied a hit and a pair of runs scored for the Orioles, who can advance to their first American League Championship Series since 1997 with a win Sunday.
Brad Brach (1-0) picked up the win after recording the final two outs in the top of the eighth. Kevin Gaussman had given up a run and three hits over 3 2/3 frames of relief prior to Brach entering the game.
J.D. Martinez cracked a three-run shot, Nick Castellanos added a solo blast and Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-4 with a run scored for Detroit.
Tigers starter Justin Verlander, who had his scoreless ALDS innings streak snapped at 32 innings, labored through five-plus frames. He allowed three runs on six hits and a walk.
Baltimore opened the scoring with two runs in the third.
Jonathan Schoop hit a two-out single and Markakis laced a 3-2 fastball for his two-run homer. The ball ricocheted off the pole that holds the gate for the bullpen beyond the fence in right-center and landed back into the field of play. The homer was confirmed following a review.
The Tigers answered quickly by plating five runs on just 10 pitches to start the fourth against O's starter Wei-Yin Chen, who had yielded just one hit through his first three frames.
Torii Hunter lined a single to center to lead off the frame and Cabrera followed by banging a double halfway up the wall in center to put runners on second and third. Victor Martinez snuck a roller through the left side of the infield to bring home Hunter.
J.D. Martinez cracked his three-run blast into the seats in left and Castellanos went the other way for his solo shot that just cleared the high wall in right to give Detroit a 5-2 lead.
Baltimore got a run back in the home half on Hardy's RBI single, cutting the gap to 5-3, but left two men on base in the fifth. Jones popped out in foul territory with runners on the corners to end the threat.
Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez came out of the pen to fire two straight scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh before everything came unglued in the eighth.
The Tigers added another run in the top half of the eighth to make it 6-3.
Hunter walked and Cabrera singled before Victor Martinez belted a one-hop double to center. Hunter scored easily, but Hardy threw out Cabrera at the plate.