A look at Nelson Cruz's remarkable postseason stats

Whether you say, "Oh, Nelly" or O's Nelly, Nelson Cruz continues to get it done for the Orioles.

In his first game with the team, opening day against Boston, he hit a homer in the seventh inning off Jon Lester. It broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Orioles a 2-1 win. He's been hitting big homers ever since and that carried through the American League Division Series.

Cruz hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Game 1 off Max Scherzer to get the series started. In Game 3, his two-run homer to right off David Price in the sixth led the Orioles to a 2-1 win.

Cruz went 6-for-12 in the ALDS with two homers and five RBIs.

Cruz has some very impressive career postseason numbers. Over 37 games, he is batting .297 with 16 homers, 32 RBIs, a .710 slugging percentage and 1.059 OPS. That is a 70-homer and 140-RBI pace over 162 games.

You want more wow stats about Cruz. Over his last 17 postseason games and 63 at-bats, he has 10 homers.

Before the Detroit series began Cruz was asked about the key to his postseason success.

"I think just be prepared," he said. "When you prepare the right way, with any challenge, you will most likely be successful. You have to make every pitch important. Along the way with 162 (games), sometimes it is hard to stay focused on every pitch, even when you try. The playoffs, that changes a little bit."

Yep, focused and locked in. That describes Cruz right now and for most of this season.

He led the majors with 40 homers and was third with 108 RBIs. On a team filled with players that made huge contributions this season, Cruz was the clear choice as Most Valuable Oriole.

Cruz set single-season career-highs in plate appearances (678), runs (87), hits (166), homers (40), RBIs (108), walks (55), extra-base hits (74), and total bases (322), and tied his career-high with 159 games.

Beyond what he did on the field, Cruz was a clubhouse leader and took young players like Jonathan Schoop under his wing.

After all those games in the playoffs, Cruz knows how special October baseball can be.

"It is always special. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've been through. I look forward to the challenge, and the whole organization and fans are ready for this," he said.

The 2014 Cruz missiles. They started coming opening day and have carried through the ALDS. Will we see more starting Friday?