The Orioles’ season ended Tuesday night after being tied for most of the final 6 innings, during all of which their lights-out closer could do nothing but twiddle his thumbs and hope his team could eventually grab the lead. Brad Brach got the Orioles through the 8th, then ran into trouble and logged only one out in the 9th. In came Darren O’Day, who induced a one-pitch double play and cruised through the 10th unscathed.
All the while, speculation ran rampant that perhaps there was an injury we didn’t know about. Or maybe Buck Showalter, patron saint of new-school success with old-school tactics, was going all Mickey Goldmill and refusing to let Rocky fight southpaw until the time was exactly right.