By Dan Connolly,The Baltimore Sun Baltimore Sun

6:00 a.m. EDT, July 15, 2012
Here’s the great and ridiculously difficult thing about major league baseball.

The Orioles are coming off one of their most emotional victories of the season. They blew a three-run lead in the ninth and continually couldn’t plate runners in scoring position.

Yet they scored three runs in the 13th against the powerful Detroit Tigers on Saturday night to win 8-6 and capture their 10thextra-inning victory in 12 contests this year.

And they did it with a home run from J.J. Hardy to break his personal 0-for-28 skid and tie the game at 6-6. Then they won it on a two-run homer by reserve catcher Taylor Teagarden, who was activated from the 60-day DL on Saturday. The guy hadn’t homered since August 18, 2010. He had never hit a walk-off before.

An amazing ending to a four hour, 43-minute marathon. And the reward is to get back to the ballpark roughly 12 hours later and prepare for another game.

In Sunday’s series finale, the Orioles will have the simple task of facing reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and MVP Justin Verlander.

In case you are wondering, Verlander is 6-0 with a 3.05 ERA in nine career starts against the Orioles. He is 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA in five games at Camden Yards.

So all those good feelings from Saturday night will have to be put away by about noon Sunday as the Orioles prepare for the toughest pitcher in the game.

Gotta love baseball.