AL East champs: O's beat Toronto and are headed back to the playoffs
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 23 games. They are 65-33 since they were one game under .500 on May 31.
The O's came to bat in the first inning trailing 1-0, but that didn't last long. Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz singled and Steve Pearce hit a three-run blast to center field to bring the crowd to life and provide a 3-1 lead. Pearce hit No. 18 on a 2-1 fastball from Drew Hutchison.
Jimmy Paredes led off the second with a homer to the opposite field. He hit No. 2 on a 1-0 pitch for a 4-2 lead.
Any chance of a Toronto comeback pretty much ended when Alejandro De Aza produced a bases loaded triple in the seventh off Aaron Loup. That made the lead 7-2 as the crowd burst into another frenzy.
The Orioles got four early runs off Hutchison, a pitcher that had been 2-0 with an ERA of 0.98 against them this season in four starts. In six career starts he was 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA. He fanned a career-high 11 in 6 1/3 innings tonight, but he also gave up six runs.
After a shaky start of his own, Jimenez settled in nicely and he gets the win on the night they clinch. Jimenez went five innings allowing two hits and two runs with four walks and six strikeouts. He improves to 5-9 with an ERA of 4.90.
Jimenez walked three of the first eight hitters he faced in his first start in a month and gave up single runs in the first and second innings throwing 60 pitches. But he retired the side in order on 37 pitches his last three innings.
So now the Orioles will play 11 final regular season games and then return to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. But this time they enter the postseason as AL East champs for the first time in 17 years.
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 23 games. They are 65-33 since they were one game under .500 on May 31.
The O's came to bat in the first inning trailing 1-0, but that didn't last long. Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz singled and Steve Pearce hit a three-run blast to center field to bring the crowd to life and provide a 3-1 lead. Pearce hit No. 18 on a 2-1 fastball from Drew Hutchison.
Jimmy Paredes led off the second with a homer to the opposite field. He hit No. 2 on a 1-0 pitch for a 4-2 lead.
Any chance of a Toronto comeback pretty much ended when Alejandro De Aza produced a bases loaded triple in the seventh off Aaron Loup. That made the lead 7-2 as the crowd burst into another frenzy.
The Orioles got four early runs off Hutchison, a pitcher that had been 2-0 with an ERA of 0.98 against them this season in four starts. In six career starts he was 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA. He fanned a career-high 11 in 6 1/3 innings tonight, but he also gave up six runs.
After a shaky start of his own, Jimenez settled in nicely and he gets the win on the night they clinch. Jimenez went five innings allowing two hits and two runs with four walks and six strikeouts. He improves to 5-9 with an ERA of 4.90.
Jimenez walked three of the first eight hitters he faced in his first start in a month and gave up single runs in the first and second innings throwing 60 pitches. But he retired the side in order on 37 pitches his last three innings.
So now the Orioles will play 11 final regular season games and then return to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. But this time they enter the postseason as AL East champs for the first time in 17 years.
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