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Spark of youth sparks O's win at Minor League Classic
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Sunday night was supposed to be a baseball lesson for most of the minor league players on hand. Watch two teams go head-to-head in a wild-card game and see how they play between the ballparks and each other in the dugout after a bad game or strikeout.
It turns out that this is also a lesson in patience.
Jorge Mateo rewarded that patience with his eighth-inning triple-double at Bowman Field The Orioles’ decisive swing to a 5-3 victory over the Red Sox in the fifth annual Minor League Classic at Muncey Bank Ballpark. It was a wild-card game, one that saw a nimble Orioles lead turn to a stalemate before half inning, and a thrilling game built in the first few hours at the minor league complex.
When Mateo’s ball goes over the extended glove of Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, It all came to a head.
“It was so cool to see all the kids getting excited and really enjoying that moment and cherishing it, ‘ Mateo said through team translator Brandon Quinones. “It reminds me of my own childhood.”
Sunday’s game-winning swing came from Mateo, which was The Orioles’ most dynamic player, he approached the game with a fearless attitude, turning doubles into 3s with blistering speed — basically playing every game like a minor league game.
But Mateo’s passionate swing was just a microcosm of the time. And off-field excursions, arguably more important ones: Rougned Odor playing rock-paper-scissors with a minor league player behind the O’s dugout during a pitching change; a large crowd of fans rushed to seats near the first base dugout to try Get every final ball from Ryan Moncastle; lifelong Dillon Tate fan interviewed on ESPN radio; President George W. Bush awarded a sports home run chain.
Sunday is a win, no matter what the final result is.
“This game, the atmosphere in the game, reminds me of my childhood memories,” said Dee, who started the game. En Kramer said. “Sometimes in this line of work, it becomes work and you forget it’s still a game. Brought that to a lot of us today.”
Even the older kids had fun – Adley Rutschman and Félix Bautista, for example, finally stopped their festivities and started admiring the fireworks above the batsman’s eyes.
“Today, it’s about kids, about us giving them the best experience possible,” Rutschman Said, he was easily the most popular character at the day’s festivities.
However, the Orioles also saw Sunday as an opportunity to welcome themselves on the big stage more formally. It was their first prime-time national game in four years — Sunday Night Baseball vs. the Yankees in August 2018 — and it was in a very different location than they were at the time.
Sunday’s win guarantees their worst-case season to over 100 losses. They think they have higher ambitions and are now 2 1/2 games away from a third wild card spot.
“If anything, we’re not on the national stage very often,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “And being able to see our players nationally, that’s the only game going on, I think that’s a big deal for a lot of our players.”
Really, others have noticed.
“In 2018-19 you’d find them in the final third of the game. Now they’re ahead , the game is almost over. It’s a testament to who they are,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “…they’re really good, and that’s just the beginning.”
The Orioles have long believed in their Intrinsic beliefs, even if they may not have provided much reason at the start of the season. Their experiences over the past few months have confirmed this again.
But more so on Sunday. They were surrounded by bright-eyed minor leaguers, and all who went home to rest were in awe of the games they had spent the afternoon, winners and losers on Sunday night. A lot of how the Orioles felt at that age.
“It’s a cool thing to be able to see the whole setup they have today, the kids are just excited to play baseball , in front of the crowd,” Rutschman said. “You can tell a lot of them are nervous to come out and play, like you should be when you’re 12.”
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