Toronto beats Orioles to clinch its first AL East title since 1993 (quotes added)

One team was recently eliminated from playoff contention. The other was a win away from its first division title in 22 years. It was not hard to tell which club was which this afternoon.

Toronto hammered the Orioles 15-2 in Game 1 of a doubleheader to clinch the American League East championship for the sixth time and first time since 1993.

Five of the Blue Jays runs were unearned thanks to Orioles errors from Manny Machado, Jason Garcia, Chris Davis and Junior Lake. According to STATS, the Orioles made four errors for the first time since Aug. 12, 2008.

Leading 4-0 in the fifth, Toronto scored four runs after two were out and none on. Garcia threw wildly past first base as one run scored to make it 5-0. On the same play, Davis - at first base - threw home over catcher Steve Clevenger's head as two more runs scored. It was an unnecessary throw with no play to be made at the plate. It was that kind of game for the Orioles.

Ryan Goins went 5-for-5 with a walk for Toronto, which got a two-run homer in the seventh from Edwin Encarnacion (No. 37), a solo shot in the ninth from Jose Bautista (No. 40), a two-run shot in the ninth from Justin Smoak (No. 18) and RBIs from eight different players. Toronto has scored 10 or more runs for the 26th time this season, the most by any team since the 2003 St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves, who each had 26.

The Orioles avoided what would have been their fourth shutout in five games when Steve Pearce homered to left off winning pitcher Marcus Stroman in the seventh. He hit No. 15 on the season and his sixth in the last 17 games. They added one in the ninth on Clevenger's RBI triple.

Miguel Gonzalez returned to the active roster and got the start - his first since Aug. 30. Over 3 2/3 innings and 75 pitches, he gave up four hits and four runs (three earned). Gonzalez is now 9-12 with an ERA of 4.91. Garcia went one inning, allowing four hits and four runs that were all unearned.

The Orioles lost their fifth straight to fall to 6-11 against Toronto and to 76-81 for the season. This result clinches the fact that the Orioles will not have a winning season in 2015.

In today's second game, right-hander Kevin Gausman (3-7, 4.49 ERA) pitches against right-hander R.A. Dickey (11-11, 4.00 ERA). Gausman has allowed nine runs in 11 innings his past two starts. At home this year, he is 2-1 with a 2.38 ERA. Dickey is 8-1 with a 2.95 ERA in 14 starts since the All-Star break. He is 2-6 with a 4.20 ERA in 13 career games versus the Orioles.

A few Game 1 postgame quotes:

Gonzalez felt good coming back to pitch from shoulder tendinitis. He won't have any more outings this year but said getting out on the mound today gives him peace of mind that he is healthy heading into the offseason.

"Yeah, I think it is definitely a positive. I felt good," he said. "Command wasn't where I wanted, but it's been a while since I pitched. It was good to throw every single pitch, all my pitches. It was a good feeling to be out there again and compete, but things didn't work out. Mentally, it was important for me to see how I feel in competition against hitters."

Gonzalez talked about watching Toronto celebrate at Camden Yards.

"It was tough. We were in that situation last year and we clinched when we were facing them. To be able to watch them celebrate is really tough," he said.

Jonathan Schoop talked about the four-error game.

"I think there were some mental errors," he said. "But that is baseball. Things happen. We have to flush it out and let's play one more game and try to win."

How is the club mentally right now?

"We wanted to get to the playoffs and we didn't make it. We just have to go into the offseason and see what we can do better for next season and come next year stronger," Schoop said.