Chris Davis belted his 31st home run of the season for the Baltimore Orioles en route to a 4-2 Orioles victory and sweep of the New York Yankees on Sunday. Manny Machado, the 20-year-old third baseman and phenom, went 3 for 4, hitting his 6th home run on the year and lacing his MLB leading 38th double.
Davis’s magical total of 31 home runs through June is only surpassed by steroid-era sluggers Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzalez. Machado is only 29 doubles away from the single season record. The scary part for the rest of the AL East: they’re just getting started.
Davis, 27, has always had immense power potential but could not seem to find his stride for the Texas Rangers, so they dealt him to the Baltimore Orioles in 2011. Now halfway through second full season with Baltimore, Davis has belted 63 home runs and hit .292 since the beginning of the 2012 season with the Orioles.
Machado, 20, has played outstanding defensively for the Orioles, with his play at third already drawing comparisons to Baltimore Hall-of-Fame 3B Brooks Robinson. Now in his first full season in the MLB, Machado’s bat has caught up to his glove as he is hitting .321 through tonight’s game with 38 doubles and 6 home runs.
The Orioles were anchored tonight by a stellar performance on the mound from Chris Tillman, 25, who went 6 innings striking out 6 and only yielding 2 runs. The win raised Tillman’s record this year to 10-2. Jim Johnson closed out the game for the Orioles on the mound, earning his MLB leading 28th save.
The Orioles are now 47-36, only 2.5 games behind the Red Sox for the AL East lead. If the Orioles are able to continue their play and win the division, it would be their first AL East title since 1997. Baltimore will look to extend their win streak to 5 games Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox.