One month and 20 days after they last won a game on the road, the Orioles finally won another one in Buffalo on Friday night.
They snapped a streak of RISP futility that had seen them go without a run-scoring hit with a man on second or third base in six games.
The offense was not terribly impressive before the eighth inning, with even a promising first-and-third, none out in the second getting a then-tying run on a ground ball double play.
The corner outfield defense was what it has often been this year, with Austin Hays playing a Randal Grichuk single into a triple in the fourth inning, leading to Grichuk scoring easily.
That’s what should-be-suspended Alek Manoah did, striking out six batters and mostly leaving the O’s lineup looking helpless.
He rebounded by striking out Trey Mancini, one of Mancini’s four strikeouts in the game, then Mountcastle hit a grounder up the middle that bounced its way into center field.
This brought in Mullins for the second Orioles run of the game and with two men still on base it meant that the next batter, Stewart, represented the tying run.
Santander singled up the middle, getting a friendly bounce of the pitchers mound, to score a third Orioles run, and was followed by Hays hitting a game-tying double to give the Orioles a brand new lease on life.
With Scott’s and Fry’s clean innings, there was no more tension until the tenth, when the Manfred Man arrives on second base for the start of every half-inning.
While a couple of O’s hitters bailed him out by swinging at pitches out of the zone, Thornton ended up walking the bases loaded and then, with two outs and Pat Valaika at the plate, Thornton walked him too.
Even though Pedro Severino grounded out with the bases loaded to end the threat, it did not cost the Orioles the game.
On the subject of missiles, one more way the game could have ended in disaster is that Sulser entered for the tenth inning, with the Manfred Man on second base and the go-ahead run already at the plate.
The O’s infield has screwed up some would-be double plays this season, but here there was no incident and it went Galvis to Valaika to Mountcastle to erase a runner and the batter.
Severino already had one passed ball and you never know when he might pounce, or rather fail to pounce.
The Orioles will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at 3:07, looking to win a second consecutive road game.