Baltimore have developed a resilience that could see them go deep in the play-offs. Having bashed Mike Leake for 6 in the bottom of the 1st inning, and with Schoop adding his 3rd homer in 3 games, the Orioles looked set to cruise through this game. Tillman turned in a quality start - just, with his 3 runs allowed in 6 innings, and then turned it over to the bullpen.
That's when it started to go all wrong as the pen gave up a 4-run 7th to let the Reds draw level and cost Tillman his win. Fortunately, the bottom of the 7th saw Baltimore add two more runs on a single by JJ Hardy to take a 9-7 lead. The Reds seemed to have runners all over the bases in the last two innings (the first 6 innings went really quickly; the last 3 seemed to take forever) but they were fended off with the aid of two superb diving catches in right field in the 8th by Markakis and then in the 9th, a screamer blocked at 3rd base by Flaherty, on as a defensive replacement, was turned into a groundout, and the final out was a terrific play from deep at short by JJ Hardy just getting the batter-runner at 1st to wrap up the game and the series sweep.
It is slightly worrying for O's fans that the Reds were able to stage a comeback, as they did in the first game of the series when the O's jumped out to an early big lead. Many of the Reds players were unknown to me other than Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips, who yet again nearly sent me a foul ball in the first game - just two rows in front and it bounced straight back down into the lower level. I've come to appreciate Phillips and I think he's a really good player - when he first came up to the majors, he seemed to do a few immature things as sometimes happens with rookies, but he's matured nicely.
The O's look like they'll do fine even without Machado. They could be vulnerable in the play-offs to a team with a really good offence, but they'll be hard to beat.
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