The 2012 American League Wild Card Game was a

play-in game A play-in game ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

's (MLB) 2012 postseason played between the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

's (AL) two wild-card teams, the Texas Rangers and the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. It was held at

Rangers Ballpark Choctaw Stadium, formerly Globe Life Park, is a multi-purpose stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. The venue opened in April 1994 as a baseball stadium with the name The Ballpark in Arlington, serving as the home for the Texas Rangers ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

, on October 5, 2012, at 8:37 p.m. EDT. The Orioles won by a 5–1 score and advanced to play the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in the AL Division Series. The game was televised on TBS.

Game results

Line score

The Orioles scored their first run of the inaugural AL wild-card game when

J. J. Hardy James Jerry Hardy (born August 19, 1982) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, and Baltimore Orioles. Hardy attended Sabino High School in T ...

knocked in

Nate McLouth Nathan Richard McLouth (born October 28, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. He was pri ...

, who reached second on first baseman

Michael Young Michael Young may refer to: Academics * Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (1915–2002), British life peer, sociologist and social activist * Michael Young (educationalist), British educational theorist and sociologist * Michael K. Youn ...

's error, with his RBI single. The Rangers answered in the same frame when

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler (; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 14 seasons for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles A ...

scored on a double play grounder by

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers teams ...

with runners on first and third. After the first inning, both starters,

Joe Saunders Joseph Francis Saunders (born June 16, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Saunders pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, a ...

and

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Lo ...

, pitched shutout baseball until the sixth inning when Adam Jones knocked in a run via a sacrifice fly after back-to-back singles by Hardy and Chris Davis. Darvish was charged with another run in the seventh via a

RBI single after a leadoff single by Ryan Flaherty and sacrifice bunt by

Manny Machado Manuel Arturo Machado (; born July 6, 1992) is an American professional baseball third baseman and shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Highly recruited from an early age, he was raised in Miami, where he attende ...

. The Oriole relievers would prove enough to take care of the Rangers lineup the rest of the way. The Orioles scored two insurance runs off of

Joe Nathan Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Detro ...

in the final frame on a leadoff double by

Robert Andino Robert Lazaro Andino (born April 25, 1984) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Florida/Miami Marlins, and Seattle Mariners. Baseball caree ...

, RBI single by Machado, and a sacrifice fly by McLouth to extend their lead to 5–1. In the end, Jim Johnson finished the Rangers off in the 9th despite them giving Baltimore a scare on having the bases loaded and two down. Johnson got David Murphy to fly out to McLouth, preserving the victory. It was the first time Baltimore won a playoff series since the

1997 American League Division Series The 1997 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the American League side in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 1997 postseason, began on Tuesday, September 30, and ended on Monday, October 6, with the champions of the three ...

References

External links

* {{Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio 2012 Major League Baseball season Texas Rangers postseason Baltimore Orioles postseason 2012 in sports in Texas 21st century in Arlington, Texas Baseball competitions in Arlington, Texas Major League Baseball Wild Card Game October 2012 sports events in the United States