Orioles' Britton blows 1st save since 2015
It was a heck of a run.
For the first time in nearly two years, Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton blew a save. He had converted 60 consecutive opportunities, with his last blown save coming on Sept. 20, 2015 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Britton entered the ninth inning of Wednesday's game against the Oakland Athletics with a two-run lead. He proceeded to allow three consecutive hits, which scored the first run of the inning, before a Matt Joyce sacrifice fly tied the game at seven.
The southpaw was pulled after walking Khris Davis with one out in the inning. He was replaced by Miguel Castro.
Britton holds the American League record in consecutive saves, having passed Tom 'Flash' Gordon's record of 54 in late July. The MLB record still belongs to former Los Angeles Dodgers closer Eric Gagne who successfully closed out 84 opportunities on the trot between 2002-04.
The streak was made possible by an outstanding 2016 that saw Britton tally 47 saves while posting a ridiculous 0.54 ERA and 0.84 WHIP over 67 innings. Injuries and a spike in his walk rate (4.62 per nine) have contributed to a less impressive 2017 for the 29-year-old.
Despite blowing the save, Orioles third baseman Manny Machado managed to salvage the contest by blasting a walk-off solo bomb in the 12th inning.