Feel-good Friday: O's sweep keyed by pitching, club now on doorstep of division title

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 Camden Yards? There is also this: The Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Yankees for the first time since Sept. 24, 1984 while handing the Yankees just their second doubleheader sweep since 2000 and their first since Sept. 17, 2006 against Boston. Since the 2000 season, New York has played 37 doubleheaders, losing just two and going 16-2-19. The day began with the stunning news of Chris Davis' suspension and ended with the Orioles lowering their magic number to clinch the American League East to five. The number to eliminate the Yankees is four. The O's could reduce that to zero and eliminate the Yankees with wins the next two days. But the biggest development to me yesterday was more exceptional starting pitching for the Orioles. In the last five games against Boston and New York, O's starters have allowed two runs over 32 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.56. Here is a look at the starters in that time: * Monday at Boston - Miguel Gonzalez allowed no runs in 6 1/3 innings. * Tuesday at Boston - Chris Tillman allowed one run in five innings. * Wednesday at Boston - Wei-Yin Chen allowed one run in seven innings. * Friday vs. Yankees, Game 1 - Kevin Gausman allowed no runs in seven innings. * Friday vs. Yankees, Game 2 - Bud Norris allowed no runs in seven innings. The Orioles gave up seven runs in three games versus Boston and one run in 20 innings on Friday. The O's gave up five runs in the ninth inning on Wednesday at Fenway Park and they have allowed just three runs in the other 46 innings the past five games. Down the road, the O's face the task of trying to win in the playoffs without three key position players. But for now, the club is playing great baseball and is on the verge of winning a division it has totally controlled for some time now.