My Ten Favorite Games of 2023 (vote for your favorite)

[Frobby]

I decided to have some fun picking out my ten favorite wins of 2023.  It turned out to be a very difficult task!   To do it, I had to let three walk-off wins, six extra inning wins, and many other exciting comebacks and important wins hit the cutting room floor.  My list appears below (with hyperlinks to the box scores), and I will put the ten honorable mentions in another post.  For me, it’s not just based on which wins were most dramatic, but also which were meaningful or especially enjoyable for one reason or another.  I’ve put out a poll including all my top ten so that folks can vote on which win was their absolute favorite, recognizing that some posters’ favorites might not even be in my top ten – that’s how fun this season was.   I’d love to hear comments on posters’ favorite wins.   Without further ado, here’s my list:

March 30, 10-9 win at Boston: This game was actually pretty excruciating, as the O’s led 10-4 in the 8^th and almost let the win slip away.   But I love an Opening Day win to get the season off on the right foot, and winning it was a relief!  Adley Rutschman had a 5-hit game that included a go-ahead homer in the first inning.  Make no mistake, this game would not have made the list if it hadn’t been on Opening Day, but it was!

May 20, 6-5 win at Toronto: The O’s trailed this game 5-2 after 7, but stormed back with 3 in the 8^th on a two-out three run bomb by Ryan O’Hearn.  Felix Bautista pitched a scary 9^th in which the first two batters reached base, but escaped.   In the 10^th, a bunt moved ghost runner Ryan Mountastle to 3B, and he scored on a chopper to Matt Chapman, whose throw hit Mountcastle in the back.   Felix struck out the side in the bottom of the 10^th for the win.  The win clinched a series win in our first series of the season with the Jays.

June 24, 6-4 win vs. Seattle:  This was the Ryan McKenna redemption game.   Felix Bautista had a rare blown save in the 9^th, allowing a solo homer to light-hitting Mike Ford.  But in the 10^th, Ryan McKenna, much maligned for his dropped catch in Boston in Game 2 of the season, hit a 2-run walk-off homer to send the Orioles fans home happy.

July 2, 2-1 win vs. Minnesota: The O’s were on their first four-game losing streak of the year and were completely shut down by Sonny Gray for six innings.   They went to the bottom of the 8^th losing 1-0, but strung together three hits (including two infield singles) to score the tying run, and with two outs, the Twins intentionally walked Ryan O’Hearn to load the bases and get to Jordan Westburg.   Plunk!   Westburg was hit by a 1-1 pitch and Anthony Santander scored the go-ahead run.  Felix Bautista struck out the side in the top of the 9^th for the save and the losing streak was over.

July 6, 14-1 win at New York: What could be more fun than putting a good old-fashioned ass-whupping on the Yankees?   This game tied the Orioles record for biggest margin of victory ever against the Bronx Bombers.   It also finished off a series split after New York had won the opening two games.   A very sweet series split that felt like a series win.

July 20, 4-3 win at Tampa:   The O’s came into this game tied with the Rays, who had led the division all year.  At one point the O’s led 3-1 but Tampa tied it in the 7^th and the game went to extra innings after Felix Bautista held the Rays scoreless in the bottom of the 9^th.   The O’s scored in the 10^th after a well-executed bunt by Adam Frazier and a deep sacrifice fly by Colton Cowser.  In the bottom of the 10^th, Bautista hit the first batter he faced, but escaped on a strikeout and a double play grounder.   The Rays contested the out call at 1B but the call stood, and the O’s were in sole possession of first place for the first time all season!

July 28, 1-0 win vs. New York:  This was an outstanding pitching duel in which Grayson Rodriguez essentially matched Gerritt Cole pitch for pitch until the bullpens took over.  Anthony Santander won it with a walk-off homer off Tommy Kahnle in the bottom of the 9^th.

August 13, 5-3 win at Seattle: The “Mullins Game.”   Cedric Mullins, who had entered as a pinch hitter in the late innings, made what appeared to be a game saving home run robbery with one out in the bottom of the 9^th, only to have Mike Baumann yield a game-tying homer on the very next pitch.   No matter – Mullins came up in the top of the 10^th, and after hitting a long foul ball that just missed being a homer, cranked a two-run shot to put the O’s ahead for good, 5-3.   Just an amazing performance by Mullins.

September 17, 5-4 win vs. Tampa Bay:  The O’s came into this game having reclaimed sole possession of first place the day before, after losing two earlier game in the series.   So, this was really Tampa Bay’s last clear shot to catch us.   The Rays broke a 1-1 tie with 2 runs in the top of the 8^th, and the O’s countered with 1 in the bottom half.  With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9^th, Austin Hays got a single, Jorge Mateo pinch ran, and scored on a ground ball double over the 3B bag by Adam Frazier to tie the game.   Each team scored a run in the 10^th, with Adley Rustchman driving in the ghost runner with two outs in the 10^th.  In the 11^th, DL Hall shut down Tampa in the top half, then Ryan O’Hearn executed a sacrifice bunt and Cedric Mullins hit a sacrifice fly to score the winning run in walk-off fashion.  The O’s also clinched a playoff spot that day and celebrated after the game.

September 28, 2-0 win vs. Boston: This win clinched the AL East title, as Dean Kremer and three relievers combined to shut out the Red Sox.  Anthony Santander hit a go-ahead solo homer in the first inning and Heston Kerstad provided an insurance run with an RBI double in the 8^th.  The crowd got increasingly giddy as the game progressed.  To add to the festive mood as the game proceeded, the team announced on the scoreboard that it had reached an agreement for a new 30-year lease at Camden Yards – a claim that turned out to be quite misleading, but it was enjoyable at the time.   Tyler Wells closed out the game with a perfect 9^th inning, and the O’s were AL East champs!

So, those are my ten choices for favorite game of the year, but there were another ten runner-up games that I reluctantly cut.   I’ll summarize those in a subsequent post.

[waroriole]

September 17 against Tampa, but it was hard not to vote for the Yankee beat down. Or the Mullins game. 

[Frobby]

These are ten other games that I considered for my top 10 list but decided to leave off.   Most years these might have been top 10 material, but not in 2023 (for me)!

April 13, 8-7 win vs. Oakland: This was the Orioles’ first walk-off win of the season.   They’a allowed a 7-4 lead to Oakland to slip away in the the middle innings, but with the game tied entering the bottom of the 9^th, Adley Rutchman led of the inning with a walk-off solo shot to send the fans home happy.

April 21, 2-1 win vs. Detroit: The O’s let a 1-0 lead get away in the top of the 9^th when Felix Bautista gave up a rare run.   But the O’s won in the bottom half of the frame when, with runners on 1^st and 3^rd, Adam Frazier hit a grounder that the 1B couldn’t handle cleanly, as Ryan Mountcastle scored the winning run

April 23, 2-1 win vs. Detroit: In a battle of the Rodriguezes, Grayson battled hard for 5 innings, allowing no runs despite giving up 5 hits and 3 walks.  Meanwhile, Eduardo was throwing a no-hitter into the 7^th, finally yielding a 2-out single to Ryan Mountcastle.  The Tigers broke through for a run in the 8^th, but the O’s matched it on an RBI single by Santander in the bottom of the frame.   Felix Bautista pitched a scoreless 9^th and 10^th, escaping a bases loaded situation that included a runner advancing to 3B with one out, an intentional walk, a strikeout, and another intentional walk before escaping the inning on a pop-up.  In the bottom of the 10^th, Terrin Vavra sacrificed Adam Frazier to 3B, and with Jorge Mateo at the plate, Tiger’s reliever Mason Englert bounced a pitch that caromed off catcher Jake Rogers, and Frazier alertly dashed home with the winning run for, the O’s third walk-off win in April and their second in the Tigers series.

July 5, 6-3 win at New York: The O’s had lost the first two games of this series, and were in danger of losing their series-winning streak.  And, they had lost 6 of the previous 7, so the O’s were reeling.  The Yankees got out to a 2-0 lead in the 5^th, but the O’s stormed back with 4 in the top of the 6^th, scored 2 more in the 9^th, and prevailed 6-3.  This game proved to be a big turning point, as the O’s ripped off 8 wins in a row starting with this win.

July 22, 6-5 win at Tampa:  A July 21 loss had put the O’s back into a virtual tie with Tampa after the O’s had taken a one-game lead the day before, so the division lead was up for grabs again in this game.  The O’s had a 5-0 lead in the game but the Rays chipped away and tied it in the 8^th.  But the O’s struck back in the 9^th on an Adam Frazier single, a sac bunt by James McCann, and an RBI single by Ryan O’Hearn.  Felix Bautista pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9^th, striking out the final two batters and earning the save, putting the O’s back into sole possession of 1^st place, a position they held for all but one day the remainder of the season.

August 20, 12-1 win at Oakland: This lopsided win against a poor opponent is noteworthy as Gunnar Henderson’s coming out party, in which he came up in the 8^th inning needing a single to hit for the cycle, but legged a ground smash into the corner into a double instead.   This game made a big statement about not only Gunnar’s talent, but his hard-nosed attitude.

September 5, 5-4 win at LA Angels: The O’s were trailing this one 3-2 in the 9^th, but got RBI singles from Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle to take a 4-3 lead.  The Angels answered with a tying run in the bottom of the 9^th.  The O’s eked out the go-ahead run on two ground balls in the top of the 10^th.   Fuji came in and allowed a deep fly ball that sent the ghost runner to 3B with only one out, but Fuji struck out the last two batters to preserve a 5-4 win.  

September 16, 8-0 win vs Tampa Bay: The O’s came into this game having lost four in a row for only the second time all season, including two losses to Tampa Bay that had put the two teams into a virtual tie, with the season serries still on the line as well.  Grayson Rodriguez responded with perhaps his best game of the year, an 8 inning 5-hit shutout, while the Orioles bombed Tyler Glasnow.  This win stopped the losing streak, put the O’s back into sole possession of first place, and sewed up the season series with the Rays, assuring that the O’s would win any tiebreakers.

September 18, 8-7 win at Houston: The O’s came from behind three times against the defending World Champs, losing 1-0 in the 3^rd , 4-3 in the 7^th, and 7-5 in the 9^th.  The game-winner was a 3-run homer by Cedric Mullins with one out in the 9^th, converting a 7-5 deficit to an 8-7 lead.   The O’s almost blew the game in the bottom of the 9^th when Ramon Urias made a wild throw on a very routine grounder to shallow 3B, allowing the leadoff hitter to advance to 2B.  The runner advanced to 3B on a deep fly out, but Cionel Perez got the next batter on a grounder to 2B that couldn’t advance the runner, and Yennier Cano came in to strike out Chas McCormick and end the game.

September 23, 2-1 win at Cleveland: The O’s came into this game riding a three-game losing streak and the bullpen was absolutely on fumes after covering a ton of innings over the previous several games.   John Means, pitching only his third game after being activated following TJ surgery, answered the bell by throwing 7.1 innings of one-hit ball, the hit being a solo homer.  Bu that time, Anthony Santander had knocked in two runs with a 1^st inning double and a 6^th inning single.   Yennier Cano and Cionel Perez combined for the final five outs without allowing a baserunner, and the O’s hung on for the 2-1 win.

So how'd I do?   Would you have put any of these in your top 10?   Did you have other favorite games that I missed?

 

[psagawa]

May 25th against the yankees. Down 5-1 starting the 7th. Scored 8 runs in the inning. I was at the game in NY. The Yankee fans sround me went from raucous to silent to bitching about cashman and the lousy bullpen. Was wearing my Brooksie jersey and got a ton of high fives from other O's fans on the way out amidst the stunned crowd exiting. It was glorious 

[SteveA]

Two games that didn't make the top 20 that were notable to me:

• Cedric hitting for the cycle vs the Pirates
• Ryan Mountcastle's 9 RBI game

I was at both of them, in really great club seats for the Pirate game.

[Jim'sKid26]

I watched the September 17th with my son. We were screaming our heads off all game at the TV and so hoarse the next day I could barely talk.  Pure awesomeness.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, psagawa said:

May 25th against the yankees. Down 5-1 starting the 7th. Scored 8 runs in the inning. I was at the game in NY. The Yankee fans sround me went from raucous to silent to bitching about cashman and the lousy bullpen. Was wearing my Brooksie jersey and got a ton of high fives from other O's fans on the way out amidst the stunned crowd exiting. It was glorious 

That's a really good one.  Needless to say, I didn't look at 101 box scores, I mostly judged them off the final score and my memory of certain games (that I then looked up).   So I'm sure I missed some other games where we came back from multiple runs down in the later innings.  And of course, it's always extra sweet when it's against the Yankees.   This might have been a top 10 game for me if I'd remembered it when doing the list.

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Two games that didn't make the top 20 that were notable to me:

• Cedric hitting for the cycle vs the Pirates
• Ryan Mountcastle's 9 RBI game

I was at both of them, in really great club seats for the Pirate game.

I was at the Mountcastle game.  That was a fun one for sure.

[Mooreisbetter27]

September 16 is mine. Because I went and also because I believe they would’ve pulled into a tie with us if they had won. Instead we blew them out on a stellar game by GrayRod and then won the Sunday game to clinch a playoff berth. It was fantastic. 

[RarityFlaherty]

26 minutes ago, psagawa said:

May 25th against the yankees. Down 5-1 starting the 7th. Scored 8 runs in the inning. I was at the game in NY. The Yankee fans sround me went from raucous to silent to bitching about cashman and the lousy bullpen. Was wearing my Brooksie jersey and got a ton of high fives from other O's fans on the way out amidst the stunned crowd exiting. It was glorious 

Yeah, I’d definitely put that one as my #2. Finally beating Cortes, after he had dominated us up until that point, felt really nice. I’d only put April 13th above that one because I was there, it was my dad’s birthday, and it was the last game we got to go to with my uncle before he passed in October. 

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, Mooreisbetter27 said:

September 16 is mine. Because I went and also because I believe they would’ve pulled into a tie with us if they had won. Instead we blew them out on a stellar game by GrayRod and then won the Sunday game to clinch a playoff berth. It was fantastic. 

The Rays actually would have been ahead of us by a game if they had won that one.  

[Aristotelian]

I was at the 1-0 Grayson vs Cole with Santander walk off game. Had to go with that one. Of the others I would go with the Mullins Game.

[Mooreisbetter27]

52 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The Rays actually would have been ahead of us by a game if they had won that one.  

Well there ya go. Even more important! I actually re thought it after I typed it and thought I was wrong but got too busy to switch it. I figured someone would correct me haha.

[24fps]

July 6th 14-1 trouncing of the Yankees for me.  It was after that series and especially that game that I first believed that this team actually could make it to the postseason. 

[Too Tall]

9/17 and it's not even close for 2023. Also, one of my favorite games in all my years of fandom and there have been many. Plus, my favorite two underdogs were heros that day.