The Baltimore Orioles’ 8-7 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday might not have looked to be very important at first glance, but considering the odds that Baltimore faced, the reality is that it was an improbable and historic victory.
Rio Ruiz’s walk-off ninth-inning home run gave the miserable Orioles an exciting win over the American League’s best team in a result that few could’ve ever seen coming.
According to every sports book, Baltimore was a huge underdog for Sunday’s game. While MLB games generally feature very even odds, the Orioles were +420 in most markets to win Sunday’s game. Why? The Orioles own a 39-78 record this season, baseball’s second-worst, and they were going up against Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander and the 77-41 ‘Stros.
To put this win into even more contest, Baltimore had lost 23-2 to Houston on Saturday night.
Nonetheless, the Orioles paid little mind to the long odds and roughed up Verlander for 4 earned runs in 5 innings of work. They went into the ninth inning with a 5-4 lead before allowing 3 runs to leave Houston on top 7-5.
After a Chris Davis sacrifice fly that pulled the score to 7-6, Orioles third baseman Rio Ruiz stepped up to the plate and smacked a two-run walk-off home run to right field, capping one of the most improbable regular-season wins in MLB history.
It’s tough to predict baseball, and Sunday’s Orioles-Astros game is proof of how crazy the game can be.
