Well, what a special night at Camden Yards and what a special team. It was a night 17 years in the making, and the Orioles and their fans can claim supremacy again in the American League East.
It was pretty much perfect, wasn't it?
The Orioles players deserve credit for so many reasons. For overcoming injuries and adversity. For playing so hard and bringing their best every night. For taking charge of this division out of the All-Star break which began with a tough West Coast trip. For...
Here are some Orioles clubhouse quotes compiled amidst the celebrating:
J.J. Hardy on winning the American League East: "Starting in spring training you work for this and this is the first goal. Now the next goal is to continue playing for a long time."
Hardy on Ubaldo Jimenez tonight: "We all feel for Ubaldo. He's been working hard. He's been doing everything and team has asked and he's gone through a tough stretch. For him to throw the way he did tonight and get the win is awesome....
The Baltimore Orioles are the 2014 American League East champions.
The Orioles picked up two early home runs and got five effective innings from Ubaldo Jimenez tonight to beat Toronto 8-2 in front of 35,257 screaming fans at an electric Camden Yards.
This is the Orioles' ninth AL East title in team history and first since 1997.
They improved to 91-60 for the season and clinched a berth in the American League Division Series with 11 games to play.
The Orioles have won nine of 10 and 18 of...
Nick Markakis is in his ninth season with the Orioles and he's finally going to get to play in the postseason, it appears. With the Orioles magic number at one, their next win will give the Orioles their ninth division title.
Markakis has played for losing Orioles teams, and was on the 2012 squad, but his season ended when he got hit by a pitch a few weeks shy of that postseason.
"I think it means a little more to me because this is all I know," Markakis said this afternoon. "This is the...
Is this going to be a special night, one that ends with the fans on their feet and the Orioles beginning to celebrate the division title?
On paper, the Orioles may be the underdogs. They are sending out Ubaldo Jimenez (4-9, 4.96 ERA) to face a pitcher in right-hander Drew Hutchison (10-11, 4.36 ERA) who has pitched very well lately and also very well against the Orioles this season.
On Aug. 6, Hutchison pitched one-hit ball over 8 2/3 innings as Toronto beat the Orioles 5-1. He retired 22...
On June 6, the Orioles were 6 1/2 games out of first place. With last night's win they lead second-place Toronto by 12 1/2 games and are within one win of the American League East title for the first time since 1997.
It is clear that the Orioles are the class of the division and a very talented team. But they are not winning on talent alone. If you ask just about any player in the O's clubhouse what makes this team so good it probably won't take long before they talk about team chemistry....
Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph had a crowd of reporters around his locker tonight. They asked him about Wei-Yin Chen and the O's 5-2 win over Toronto, but also about plays he was involved in during the middle of the game.
Joseph was asked about the play at the plate that angered Jose Reyes and the Blue Jays in the fifth inning and then the pitch that Marcus Stroman threw that buzzed his head in the last of the sixth.
"We had a play at the plate," Joseph said. "Close game, late in the year....
Wei-Yin Chen certainly has had sharper outings. But tonight, he minimized the damage and won his 16th game as the Orioles beat Toronto 5-2 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles have reduced their magic number to clinch the American League East to one. They can win the division title here on Tuesday night.
The Orioles are a season-high 30 games over .500 at 90-60 and have won eight of their last nine and 17 of the last 22 games.
Both benches were warned in the last of the sixth when Toronto starter...
When the Orioles made the 2012 playoffs, they had an excellent record within the American League East. The Orioles went 43-29 (.597), posting their best winning percentage in division games since 1980.
The Orioles finished at .500 or better against each AL East team that year.
The 2014 Orioles are doing even better against their own division. These Orioles are 40-23 (.635) in games versus the AL East, going 11-4 against New York, 10-6 versus Boston, 12-7 against Tampa Bay and 7-6 versus...
It is so close now. The Orioles could be celebrating a division title as soon as tomorrow.
But it should come as no surprise that players in the O's clubhouse who have been so focused on taking the season day by day are not quite ready to talk much about that yet. Even with the magic number to clinch the American League East for the first time since 1997 at three.
Adam Jones was asked today what it will be like to clinch in front of the home fans if and when that happens. He's not ready to...
As it turns out, Andrew Miller can't strike out everyone.
The Orioles lefty faced four batters last night against the Yankees and one actually put the ball in play. But of the last 12 outs Miller has recorded over his past four outings spanning four innings, he has gotten 11 via a strikeout.
Miller has fanned 14 over his last 5 2/3 innings and has struck out 28 with just three walks in 16 2/3 innings since the Orioles acquired him July 31 from Boston.
Call it filthy or nasty, or use some other...
For the second time in the series, the Orioles beat the Yankees with a walk-off win.
Kelly Johnson's double was the last of three in the ninth for the Orioles against Yankees closer David Robertson as the Birds stunned the Yankees 3-2 at Camden Yards.
"It is really, really exciting," Johnson said. "I'm not going to lie. It feels really good. You want to contribute and be a part of it.
"It feels like a first-place team. I've bounced around a little bit now and you know, you just get a...
Comeback win. Walk-off win.
Against the New York Yankees in front of a huge crowd on Sunday Night Baseball.
Kelly Johnson's RBI double to right center capped an Orioles two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth as they stunned the Yankees 3-2 in front of 43,947 at Camden Yards.
Nelson Cruz led off the ninth off against Yankees closer David Robertson and doubled to left. Steve Pearce followed with an RBI double to tie the game at 2-2. One out later, Johnson's cluch hit ended it. Robertson...
When Chris Tillman gave up just one run in five innings at Boston in his last start, he added to his streak of consecutive starts allowing three or fewer earned runs.
He is now at 18 straight such starts which ties him with Steve Barber for the fourth longest streak in club history:
* Dave McNally, 25 straight from May 19-Sept. 8, 1968.
* Steve Barber, 20 straight from Aug. 17, 1965 to June 4, 1966.
* Milt Pappas, 19 straight from April 14-July 21, 1965.
* Steve Barber, 18 straight from June...
Ubaldo Jimenez hasn't pitched in a game this month, and he has only made two bullpen appearances since his last start on Aug. 16, but the right hander will start for the Orioles on Tuesday night against Toronto.
"I'm happy about it because that is the thing I've been doing my whole career in the major leagues," Jimenez said this afternoon. "Happy to have the opportunity."
Jimenez is 4-9 with a 4.96 ERA in 22 games and 20 starts for the Orioles in this his first season of a four-year,...
If there is one thing some Orioles fans seem to crave, it is respect from national analysts.
For those of you that fit into that category, you got what you want earlier this week on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight," when the analysts spent several minutes talking up the Orioles and their postseason chances.
Jayson Stark was first.
"All I hear is they can't win the World Series, they can't do this or that. They've got a plus-64 run differential since the start of August," Stark said.
"This is...
O's starter Miguel Gonzalez gave up runs in just one inning today, but that was enough to beat him.
Gonzalez allowed three runs in the second inning as the New York Yankees beat the Orioles 3-2 at Camden Yards.
Catcher Caleb Joseph talked about Gonzalez's outing.
"I thought he did a really good job of, you know, kind of keeping us engaged in the game and keeping us in it the whole time," Joseph said. "Things didn't go well for him that one inning, but he really did a good job of putting...
This time, there was no comeback or walk-off win and the O's magic number remains at five.
Shane Greene held the Orioles to two runs over 5 1/3 innings as the Yankees won 3-2 in front of 44,231 at Camden Yards. It was the eighth sellout of the year.
Greene, now 5-3 with an ERA of 3.56, fanned nine. In two starts against the Orioles, he's allowed two runs with 18 strikeouts over 12 2/3 innings.
After an amazing run that saw O's starting pitchers allow just two runs over 32 1/3 innings the...
The Orioles have Steve Pearce to take over for Chris Davis at first base. But what is going to happen at third base, where Davis had made 16 starts over the last three weeks?
There is a job to be won there for someone, most likely among Ryan Flaherty, Kelly Johnson and Jimmy Paredes.
Johnson said this morning that he sees it that way. There is a great opportunity out there now for someone to step up and become the O's third baseman while Davis is out.
"For sure. Absolutely," Johnson said....
The Orioles are 10-3 against the Yankees and have already clinched the season series for the first time in 17 years with six games yet to play.
On the same day the Orioles recorded their 5,000th all-time win, counting the postseason, they added No. 5,001.
They gave up one run in 20 innings.
They reduced their magic number to five.
That covers just some of what happened Friday at Camden Yards, where the Orioles are 26-7 since June 30. Remember when they didn't have a winning record at...