Baltimore has won 16 consecutive extra-inning games
If there is a Major League Baseball club that appears to be a team of destiny in 2012, it is the Baltimore Orioles.
Playing their third game of at least 11 innings in their last four contests, the Orioles remained one game behind the New York Yankees in the American League East and kept its hold on the top wild card spot in the AL with a 9-6 victory in 12 innings over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday at Fenway Park.
The Orioles continued to get contributions from their entire roster on Saturday. In the top of 12th inning with one out, Jim Thome belted a ground-rule double off Alfredo Aceves to score Adam Jones, who led off the frame with a double. Thome had been 0-for-5 in the game and had not hit the ball out of the infield.
Light-hitting outfielder Endy Chavez added an RBI single with two outs later in the inning and rookie third baseman Manny Machado delivered a run-scoring single moments later to give Baltimore a 9-6 cushion.
With the Yankees clinging to a one-game lead over the surging Orioles, and the Tampa Bay Rays scratching and clawing to stay in the wild card hunt, the AL East looks to be one of the most interesting races over the final days of the 2012 regular season.
