Lefties not safe with Davis at the plate
O's slugger has MLB-high 41 homers, with 10 coming off southpaws
NEW YORK -- Chris Davis can hit lefties and, this season, he's been hitting them pretty consistently.
The O's slugger blasted his 10th homer off a southpaw during Tuesday night's 2-1 victory, giving the Orioles just their fourth win in 19 games with his ninth-inning solo shot. Davis, who went deep off Yankees reliever Chasen Shreve, has 102 RBIs and a Major League-high 41 home runs on the season as he continues a late-season surge.
"He's been solid in a time of need," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Davis, who is batting .400 with six homers and 10 RBIs over the last seven games. "He's been able to dial up some things that we need. It's hard to do because [opposing teams] all know what he's capable of."
A pending free agent, the left-handed hitter, while posting a better slugging percentage off righties, actually has a better batting average (.293) in 150 at-bats against lefties this season. It's a slight departure over the rest of his career, as Davis' career line is .241/.292/.460 versus lefties and .259/.340/.521 against righties.
"Coming up with the Rangers, I felt like I always hit the ball well against left-handers in the Minor Leagues. Obviously, the big leagues are a little bit different story. But over the past few years I've just made little adjustments here and there and I tried to do everything I can to not overswing or go up there and look for a certain pitch," Davis said. "Just try to see the ball and hit it and it's worked out for me."
Already the first Oriole to notch two 40-homer seasons in club history, Davis sent a line drive into the left-field seats on Shreve's 2-0 fastball in the ninth, quieting the crowd at Yankee Stadium with the leadoff blast.
"He's a freak," Orioles starter Kevin Gausman said of Davis, who has 18 homers that have tied or given Baltimore the lead. "He just continues to do those type of things. Seems like every time we need a big hit, he's coming up to bat that inning and he's doing it. He's an awesome guy, too. Just all-around great, great to be around."