Daniel Clark: Four keys to Orioles having ALDS success

With the regular season having come to a close, now is a good opportunity to reflect on expectations for the 2014 season and appreciate just how impressive this Orioles team has performed. Despite the numerous injuries and suspensions during the journey, a 96-66 record, a 12-game division lead and a ninth American League East title was probably more than what even the most optimistic Orioles fan expected. And now, as the postseason swings into gear, the city of Baltimore holds high hopes that the 2014 season will not just be one ending with an AL East title, but also one that carries with it postseason success. The Orioles have a tough road ahead of them, facing a formidable Detroit Tigers team in what is set to be a fascinating AL Division Series starting tomorrow night. The Tigers, who possess arguably the best starting rotation in all of baseball, will throw that and an impressive lineup at the Orioles in a bid to progress through to the AL Championship Series, which starts next Friday. For the Orioles to overcome such strong opponents, a number of things will need to occur: Ensure lengthy at-bats The Tigers rotation for the ALDS will be Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Price and Rick Porcello - the first three of which are AL Cy Young Award winners while Porcello won 15 games this season. This combination oozes class, but the bullpen is quite the opposite, working to a combined ERA of 4.29, which ranked 27th in the major leagues. The main culprits are Jim Johnson (7.09 ERA), Joe Nathan (4.81), Kyle Lobstein (4.35) and Phil Coke (3.88), who have each had their fair share of troubles this season. Despite that, most are still likely to pitch in the ALDS. While the Orioles' preference would be to jump out to an early lead, if they can't manage to do so, they need to remain patient in the box and chew up a large number of pitches. If they can achieve this and be within striking distance as the relievers take over, there's a strong possibility the Tigers' shaky bullpen will crumble under pressure. Continue the starters' success One of the keys to the Orioles' success this season has been the improvement of the starting rotation, which had five starters record season ERAs of 3.65 or better. Heading to the mound in the ALDS will be Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez and Bud Norris, and each will need to keep the runs at a minimum given the Orioles offense will have a tough time scoring off the previously mentioned Tigers rotation. If the starters allow the likes of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez and Torii Hunter to find some rhythm early, then the Orioles may have a tough time pulling the game back into their control. Overall, the impressive Tigers offense leads the majors in team batting average (.277) and the Orioles starters will need to be at their best to keep this lineup quiet. Limit the errors The Orioles pride themselves on impressive defense, but the month of September was disastrous by their high standards, as they committed 23 errors, including nine at third base. While some of these errors were committed by backup players, Ryan Flaherty (three), Jimmy Paredes (three) and Kelly Johnson (one) each contributed to the high tally and any of these three could see time at the hot corner during the series. It is commonplace in every sport that good teams make opponents pay for their mistakes and the Tigers will be looking to capitalize on any errors made by the Orioles. This is certainly the biggest concern heading into the playoffs and one where a significant level of improvement is needed. Use the longball There's no doubt that the Orioles are the most powerful team in baseball, having hit 211 home runs in the regular season - 25 more than the second-place Rockies. This power is not just a flash in the pan either, as the Orioles also led the major leagues by plenty in 2013. In comparison, the Tigers hit just 155, which ranked seventh in the majors. It's no secret that the Orioles rely heavily on the longball and this is backed by the fact that when the Orioles hit a home run, they win 70 percent of the time (78-33 record). If they're going to beat the Tigers three times, they will need the likes of Nelson Cruz, Adam Jones and Steve Pearce to send the ball out of the Yard frequently. Daniel Clark blogs about the Orioles at The Big Leagues Daily from Melbourne, Australia. Follow him on Twitter: @DC_TBLDaily. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.