Classic Crush: Orioles appreciative of Davis

O's slugger hits tying homer in seventh, decisive sac fly in ninth after making impressive leaping catch

June 10th, 2016

TORONTO -- Chris Davis doesn't mind being the guy counted on by the Orioles.
On Thursday night, it was Davis' bat that helped the O's erase a deficit and defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5.
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In the seventh, the first baseman took a 3-1 pitch from Aaron Loup deep over the wall in left field for his 13th home run of the season, tying the game at 5.
Then, in the ninth, Davis' sac fly off closer Roberto Osuna scored Joey Rickard from third for the eventual winning run.
"I felt like the whole season I've been having good at-bats, but I haven't really been able to push through, so it was nice to come through for the guys tonight," said Davis. "I think the older you get, the more you learn about yourself, but you continue to grind and do everything you can to try to push through it."
Since 2008, no one has hit more home runs against the Blue Jays than Davis (32). His 172 home runs since 2012 lead all Major League hitters.
Davis' home run coupled with Pedro Alvarez's sixth of the season off Jays starter Marcus Stroman in the sixth helped the Orioles move into the top spot for the most home runs in the Majors this season, with 89.
In the third inning, Davis showed off his defensive skills, going airborne to rob Justin Smoak of at least a single.

"Every time a guy jumps, you look around and everybody's just shaming him and talking about how little he got off the ground, but I think that's probably my best jump of the year," Davis said. "You understand that you're not going to go out there and go 4-for-4 every night and make every play on defense, but these are the games that you grind for, you enjoy and move forward and see what tomorrow has for you."
The 30-year-old's teammates were appreciative of his efforts, including starting pitcher Tyler Wilson, who left the game after 5 2/3 in line for the loss, having surrendered five runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out three.
"That guy is a special player," Wilson said. "Not only is he a great power hitter, but he's a great baseball player. Everybody knows he can hit 50 homers a year and is subject to go downtown at anytime, but the guy works like crazy on his defense.
"C.D. is just a special baseball player and is always going to fight to no end to accomplish what's needed for the team, and tonight he did a little bit of everything to make that known."

Davis finished the night 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored as the Orioles (36-23) stretched their win streak to five games.
"Chris got it done on both sides of the ball," said Orioles manager, Buck Showalter. "Through thick and thin, he's impacted our team defensively, too, and also by the way he's handled adversity."