Baltimore, MD – In his first game since joining the Orioles, Taylor Teagarden had one of the biggest hits of his major league career.
Teagarden, who was activated off the 60-day disabled list on Saturday, blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning to send Baltimore to an 8-6 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Teagarden was traded from Texas to Baltimore in the offseason, but he didn't play for the parent club until Saturday due to a lower back strain. He entered the game as a defensive replacement in the 11th inning and struck out to leave a runner in scoring position, just after Adam Jones tied the game with an RBI single.
Quintin Berry singled in Danny Worth in the top of the 13th to give the Tigers a 6-5 edge, but Joaquin Benoit (1-2) served up a one-out homer to J.J. Hardy, who snapped an 0-for-28 slump. Benoit then hit Jones with a pitch with two outs. Teagarden then smacked a 1-2 pitch barely over the wall in right, just to the left of the scoreboard, for his first career walk-off homer to give the Orioles their 10th straight extra-inning victory.
"I got a fastball up," Teagarden said. "I think these guys were trying to elevate on me because they knew I probably wasn't as fresh as the other guys as far as seeing Benoit. I think they were trying to get me to chase up. That one, I just shortened my swing and it caught a little bit of the plate."
There were a total of 427 pitches thrown in the game, just two by Kevin Gregg (3-2), who was credited with the win. He retired Austin Jackson on a fielder's choice to end the top of the 13th.
The Tigers, who had a six-game winning streak snapped, scored three times in the ninth and got an RBI single from Alex Avila in the 11th, only to see the Orioles take the middle test of this three-game set.
"It was just a terrific game, Major League Baseball at its best," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "It doesn't get any better than that."
The Tigers forced extras with a three-run ninth against Jim Johnson. Miguel Cabrera singled then moved to second when Delmon Young reached on a Ryan Flaherty fielding error. Jhonny Peralta followed with an RBI single, Brennan Boesch then scored Young on a double and after pinch-hitter Avila fanned, Berry tied the game with a base hit. The frame ended on that play when Boesch was thrown out at home to keep it 4-4.
Prince Fielder and Jim Thome traded RBI doubles in the first inning, and Robert Andino's two-run homer gave the O's a 3-1 lead in the second.
Jones scored on a Chris Davis fielder's choice in the fourth.
Game Notes
Prior to the game, the Orioles selected the contract of pitcher Miguel Socolovich from Triple-A Norfolk, optioned catcher Ronny Paulino to Norfolk and designated pitcher Dana Eveland for assignment...The Tigers placed pitcher Drew Smyly on the 15-day disabled list and selected the contract of pitcher Luis Marte from Triple-A Toledo...Jackson went 0-for-6 and saw his 16-game hitting streak snapped...The teams combined to leave 23 men on base in the 4- hour, 43-minute marathon...Tigers starter Max Scherzer lasted five innings, while Baltimore's Wei-Yin Chen threw the first six frames.
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