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Buck on not using Britton: ‘It didn’t work out’
- Updated: October 5, 2016
TORONTO — The Orioles season ended on Tuesday night, and one of the best pitchers in baseball, closer Zach Britton, could only watch on a puzzling night that resulted in Baltimore’s gut-wrenching 5-2, 11-inning defeat to the Blue Jays.
Britton — a perfect 47-for-47 in saves on the year — was nowhere to be found in the biggest spots in the winner-take-all American League Wild Card Game. Maybe the lefty sinkerballer, who had allowed one earned run since April, was hurt?
“He was fine,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He was fine.”
Date Result Highlights Oct. 4 TOR 5, BAL 2 Shop for postseason gear: Orioles | Blue Jays • AL Wild Card Game coverage
That makes it even stranger that Britton, a strong candidate for the AL Cy Young Award, was never used despite Toronto mounting several late-game chances before Edwin Encarnacion’s game-winning three-run homer.
“I figured [Showalter] would wait maybe and in the eighth or ninth if we were ahead, I’d be in the game,” said Britton, who reiterated he was fine physically. “But once the score was tied, I felt like once there was an opportunity to get in the game, I was going to get the game. Whether we were going to get a lead or not, I wasn’t sure.
“It was just frustrating to have to sit down there and watch and not be able to help the team.”
Britton warmed up three times: in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings. But he never got the call, prompting extensive criticism.
While Brad Brach got the ball following Mychal Givens in …
