Rob Long: Oriole Magic
I remember as a kid I would watch the Baltimore Orioles mashers like Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken destroy opposing pitchers en route to Cooperstown. You could cheer for John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke as they provided power in the middle of the order as well.
Seeing those guys produce wasn't really what Oriole Magic was all about though. Oriole Magic was watching Rick Dempsey win the 1983 World Series MVP. It was having Tito Landrum come through in the 10th inning against Britt Burns in the ALCS to send the Birds to the World Series.
Although the stakes weren't nearly as high on Tuesday night, it felt like Oriole Magic once again. After the O's finally cracked the Justin Masterson code with a game tying two-run homerun off the bat of Chris Davis, they seemed determined to deliver the knock out punch while the pitcher was on the ropes.
Ryan Flaherty had been getting a lot of the playing time at second base, but not on Tuesday. Buck Showalter decided to start Alexi Casilla and that decision paid off. Alexi deposited a Masterson pitch into the right field seats that gave the O's the lead at 6-3.
Justin Masterson was having a brilliant performance and just like that, it had gone away. In typical Oriole Magic fashion Masterson fell victim to Alexi Casilla, a guy who recently ended a game with a base running blunder became the hero with a 3-run homerun to snap a 4-game losing streak.
