Camden Yards crowd looked for a reason to erupt

BALTIMORE - The crowd at Camden Yards looked for any reason to erupt.  Three routine groundball outs in the top of the first sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Orioles fans took out years of losing with every pitch Thursday night.  And when Matt Weiters delivered a three-run homerun in the bottom of the first, Baltimore announced to the world it's a baseball town again.

The scoreboard operator never needed to prompt the crowd.  There's no need for "Make some noise" signs here.  Baltimore knows baseball.  Oriole fans just couldn't stomach any more losing baseball.

The top of the 8th inning was a gut check.   The Yankees scored five runs to tie it. 

Inside, it fell like M&T Bank Stadium in December 2010.  The Ravens were in control of a game against the hated Steelers,  like the Orioles were in control against the Yankees. 

In both cases, the games felt like parties.  Baltimore was done taking beatings from its archrivals.

Then, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco fumbled, like Orioles pitcher Pedro Strop imploded.  How can stadiums full of people sit so silent? 

In 2010, the Steelers won.  But Thursday night, Adam Jones, who officially became the face of the team this summer, carried the fan base and the franchise on his back, crushing a homerun to left. The party was back on.

When Mark Reynolds, who's gone from frustrating to fan favorite in two weeks, and Chris Davis added back-to-back homeruns, you could see Baltimore baseball fans hugging each other.  Baltimore baseball is back.