NEW YORK _ In a game rife with tension and full of controversial, game-changing plays, the decider left nothing to doubt.
In the 14th inning, nearly five hours after the game began, Pedro Alvarez broke a 3-3 deadlock with a grand slam to help the Orioles to a 7-3 win over the New York Yankees.
They could have lost it as many times leading up to that as they could have won it, but in a game of missed opportunities and game-saving defensive plays, it was the Orioles' bench bat who decided it.
The way the Orioles jumped to a 1-0 lead _ a Manny Machado home run _ wasn't exactly tense. It got out in a hurry, and was thrown back onto the field from the second level of the left-field seats just as quickly.
But from the very first pitch Kevin Gausman threw _ and it took him seven before one was a strike _ Friday felt like anything but April. The Yankees only managed one run in that first inning, despite Gausman hitting Aaron Judge with a fastball and spending most of the inning with two runners on.
He settled down, and despite another blast from Machado and the season's first from slumping first baseman Chris Davis, the Orioles didn't threaten much.
Gausman, too, gave back a second lead but settled in to pitch into the sixth, allowing two runs. After he allowed a single to start that inning, Richard Bleier relieved him. Then things got really weird. Bleier ended up putting another runner on, and there was a man on first and third with one out when things got complicated.
Bleier got a dribbler toward third base from Neil Walker, and with Giancarlo Stanton running home, he started a rundown that saw Stanton run back towards the bag with a runner already on it. He ran past the base, and Caleb Joseph tagged him out, but the Orioles lobbied unsuccessfully for two outs instead of one. MLB rules stipulate that two outs can be recorded if a runner does that, but the umpires didn't grant manager Buck Showalter's wish.
The home half of the seventh inning was similarly uneasy once Bleier walked Brett Gardner and ceded, still up 3-2 to Miguel Castro. Castro got Judge to whiff on a slider to sit the Bronx crowd down once again.
But after another feeble top-half of an inning in the eighth, Castro made one mistake that set the game on a different path. Didi Gregorius turned on a ball low and inside and yanked it into the short porch in right field for a game-tying home run.
Castro got it to the ninth inning still tied, and the Yankees brought in closer Aroldis Chapman. As is his wont, he was effectively wild, walking two but striking out two _ and receiving two mound visits for an apparent physical issue _ to put the game in his hitters' hands.
But Castro set them down again, and extra innings began as temperatures began to drop in New York.
The Orioles had their first of many chances in the 10th off reliever Chad Green, who walked Machado to lead off the inning allowed a two-out single to Alvarez but fanned Colby Rasmus to get his team back into the dugout.
That brought Mychal Givens _ who had allowed a run in his last two appearances and threw 26 pitches Thursday _ in for the 10th. He broke that form and blew away the top of the Yankees lineup, striking out Gardner, Judge, and Gary Sanchez.
His teammates went down in order in the top of the 11th, but the Yankees didn't oblige him with another clean inning.
Givens walked Gregorius to start the inning, and he promptly stole second base. Sanchez grounded out, and the Orioles used their free base to set up a double play with an automatic intentional walk to Neil Walker. Two pitches later, Givens got the ground ball he wanted, but Ronald Torreyes beat the throw to first base and the inning continued with Gregorius on third. He wouldn't stay there long.
After going ahead 0-2, Givens yanked a slider to the backstop, and Gregorius broke for home. The converted shortstop-turned-reliever followed, and when Joseph tracked the ball down, he tossed it to Givens, who slid into home like a baserunner and blocked Gregorius from getting to the plate.
Replay review confirmed it was a legal play, and that Gregorius was out, and the game proceeded to the 12th.
The Orioles loaded the bases on singles by Machado and center fielder Adam Jones, plus a well-earned walk by Alvarez against a left-hander in Chasen Shreve. But Rasmus struck out again to end the threat and bring in Rule 5 pick Pedro Araujo for the last of the 12th.
Last time he pitched, Araujo and fellow Rule 5 pick Nestor Cortes Jr. oversaw a collapse in Houston. The Astros posted a five-run inning on them in a 10-6 loss on Tuesday, and neither has been seen since. Four of the runs were Araujo's.
So of course, he retired six of the seven batters he faced.
The Orioles' half of the 13th inning featured a home run-robbing catch by Judge of Joseph, but the fatal blow was soon to follow. Trey Mancini walked, Machado singled to give him four hits on the day, and a sacrifice bunt by Jonathan Schoop saw him reach on an error. Jones struck out looking at a borderline pitch, but Alvarez left no doubt with his first home run of the season.
Brad Brach recorded his second save in as many nights to seal it.
