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Baltimore's unlikely resurgence culminates with a division crown
The last time neither the Red Sox nor Yankees qualified for the American League playoffs, a gallon of gas cost barely a dollar, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was Billboard's No. 1 song and "Jurassic Park" was America's highest-grossing movie.
That 21-year streak will almost certainly end this season.
Baltimore took a giant step toward ensuring the playoffs won't include either Boston or New York on Tuesday night when it clinched the American League East championship with an 8-2 victory over second-place Toronto. First baseman Steve Pearce and third baseman Jimmy Paredes both belted home runs to power the Orioles to their first division title since 1997.
In the 17 years between Baltimore's division championships, Boston or New York have claimed every AL East title every besides 2008 and 2010 when Tampa Bay dethroned baseball's two big-budget behemoths. This year, the underachieving Red Sox haven't sniffed playoff contention since before the all-star break and the aging Yankees have hovered around .500 all season and began Tuesday six games out of the final Wild Card spot.
Credit Baltimore for capitalizing on that AL East power vacuum in a season when little was expected of the Orioles. They've amassed the American League's second-most wins even though they had a losing record on the last day of May, their most prominent starting pitcher has battled command issues all season and their all-star catcher and starting third baseman both underwent season-ending surgeries early this summer.
There are a few reasons Baltimore has caught fire the past three months.
Its no-name starting rotation has collectively made up for the season-long struggles of big-money free agent bust Ubaldo Jimenez. Its closer Zach Britton has been virtually untouchable since inheriting the role in late May, as have dominant set-up men Darren O'Day and Andrew Miller. And its powerful lineup has shaken off the absence of Matt Wieters and Manny Machado to produce a league-best 194 home runs, 25 more than any other team in baseball.
The way the Orioles won Tuesday is fitting because it was a microcosm of their season. Home runs by Pearce and Paredes propelled Baltimore to an early 4-2 lead, Jimenez survived early command issues to throw five solid innings in his first start in three weeks and the Orioles' lights-out bullpen never gave the Bluejays hope of mounting a comeback.
Once it became clear the Orioles were going to win after Alejandro De Aza's three-run seventh-inning double increased the lead to 7-2, an already festive atmosphere at Camden Yards turned into a stadium-wide party. The Orioles sold more than 11,000 tickets to Tuesday's game in the previous 24 hours, and those fans were eager to celebrate, standing and roaring for the final inning and waving everything from "We Believe" signs to giant cardboard champagne bottles.
The players joined in the fun too after Tommy Hunter recorded the final out on a ground ball to first. The Orioles bench spilled out of the dugout, black and orange streamers fell from the sky and manager Buck Showalter embraced his staff and watched the celebration on the infield unfold.
A new power has emerged in the AL East, and while the Orioles don't have the history or pedigree of the Red Sox or Yankees, they won't be an easy out in the postseason either.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
