'Chaotic': O's largest comeback in 17 years stuns Tigers as Deadline looms

DETROIT -- The Orioles were trailing by seven runs heading into the seventh inning, and Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was working on a scoreless gem on Wednesday afternoon. Doesn’t seem like the best recipe for a come-from-behind victory, right?

Well, you may not believe what happened from there.

Baltimore plated five runs in the seventh, tied the game on Coby Mayo’s two-run triple in the eighth and came away with a 10-9 victory at Comerica Park thanks to Colton Cowser’s go-ahead two-out RBI single in the 12th. The O’s (53-56) took two of three games to win the series in Detroit.

It was the Orioles’ largest comeback win since they erased a nine-run deficit in an 11-10 win over the Red Sox at Camden Yards on June 30, 2009. It was also the first time Baltimore won a game in which it trailed 7-0 since July 2, 1995, when it pulled off a 9-7 victory at Toronto.

“Like we’ve been talking about a lot all year, those boys in that clubhouse are a resilient bunch. They take punches and keep on going. I wish we didn’t have to. I mean, a lot of that was self-inflicted, those seven runs,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “But our guys battled. They battled. ... It was a pretty chaotic game.”

You can say that again.

Skubal didn’t give up a run until his 92nd and final pitch of the day, when the O’s broke up the shutout attempt on Leody Taveras’ two-out RBI single in the seventh. Skubal exited with runners on first and second in the inning as he was replaced by right-hander Kyle Finnegan.

After Jeremiah Jackson drew a 12-pitch walk to load the bases against Finnegan, Jackson Holliday came off the bench and knocked a pinch-hit two-run single. Taylor Ward followed with a two-run single of his own to cut Detroit’s lead to 7-5 and chase Finnegan.

In the eighth, the Orioles had runners on second and third and one out against right-hander Drew Anderson, who then gave up a game-tying two-run triple to Mayo that banged off the wall in straightaway center field. It was the first three-bagger of the 24-year-old’s 186-game career.

“We're very capable of staying in ballgames, coming back and kind of just chipping away,” Mayo said. “Whether it's a three-run inning, a two-run inning, and just kind of keeping that momentum going inning after inning and putting up good at-bats, not giving any away. I think that's the biggest thing when you're in these kinds of games, is don't give any at-bats away because they all matter.

“And at this point in the season, you can't afford to give any away. Especially in this kind of game.”

Neither team scored in the ninth or 10th. The Tigers had a prime opportunity to walk it off with runners on the corners and one out in the bottom of the 10th, but right-hander Tyler Wells kept the game tied at 7 by getting Eduardo Valencia to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

Baltimore scored a pair of runs in the top of the 11th on a go-ahead sac fly by Yohel Pozo and an RBI single from Holliday. However, Detroit immediately responded, as Spencer Torkelson tied the game at 9 with a leadoff two-run homer off Rico Garcia in the bottom of the inning.

The O’s had a runner on third with two outs in the 12th when Cowser worked an impressive at-bat against Drew Sommers. Cowser fell behind 0-2, worked the count full and then knocked a go-ahead left-on-left RBI single on a high-and-inside sinker.

“Once he got me down 0-2, it was really just committing to being late and seeing the ball, and honestly, just trying to see it deep and put the bat on the ball,” Cowser said. “Because I didn’t want to chase there and wanted to make him get back in the zone.”

The Tigers ended the game with runners on second and third as right-hander Andrew Kittredge came in and got Valencia to ground out for the final out.

As wild as this game was, the looming Trade Deadline on Monday made it all the more important for these two teams -- both lurking in the American League Wild Card picture -- to give it all they had in the rubber-game finale.

This win could convince the Orioles’ front office to buy. The Tigers may now sell.

“We really needed that game,” left-hander Trevor Rogers said. “Every game from here on out -- whether it's Deadline three days away or for the end of the season -- every game is crucial for us right now in getting to where we need to go.”

And for these O’s, they still believe they can go far. Especially with how they were feeling after this type of victory.

“The vibes are high right now,” Albernaz said. “I’m proud of those guys.”