Down 5-4 in the top of the 8th inning yesterday afternoon, Orioles’ second baseman Jonathan Schoop was lured into a 1-2 count to start the inning.
Rays’ reliever Chase Whitley forced a swing and a miss from Schoop after a 1-1 changeup, putting the oft-swinging Schoop in a typically precarious situation. Whitley followed the 1-2 changeup with a slider down and away, a pitch that has historically induced a walk back to the dugout. Nevertheless, he persisted.
Passing on the slider down and away, Schoop was gifted a 2-2 changeup that stayed up just enough for him to line a 96 MPH line drive into the first row of Tropicana Field’s left field bleachers to tie the game.