The Baltimore Orioles‘ 12-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night meant more than your average, everyday win. When the Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays a bit later, Baltimore pulled even in the American League East standings.
This may sound like “This Week’s Sign of the Apocalypse” in the next issue of Sports Illustrated. Baltimore has been toiling away in baseball purgatory since 1997—the last time they had a winning record.
On the other hand, New York is the standard of success in Major League Baseball (and sports). These aren’t the Yanks from the 1950s, but those same expectations still apply.
The Orioles are a middle-of-the-road team in terms of team pitching (No. 17) and team hitting (No. 18). However, Buck Showalter has his team believing and delivering.
Baltimore has been above .500 from tape to tape this season. It seemed to lull in early July, but Showalter was able to rally the troops.
The resurgence has been led by a handful of players. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones have anchored Baltimore’s offense, while guys like Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy have provided timely hitting.
The pitching staff has been led by Wei-Yin Chen’s 12 wins and a collection of talented bullpen arms including Darren O’Day and Pedro Strop.
Tuesday night’s victory was emphatic. Toronto held the team scoreless for the first four innings, but Baltimore exploded for 12 runs on 18 hits in the final five frames.
Zach Britton earned his fifth victory of the season behind seven scoreless innings, while Kevin Gregg and Zach Phillips finished the game out, ensuring the shutout and an altogether perfect evening for the O’s.
Baltimore has now won nine of their last 12 games and appear to be peaking at the most opportune time.
The Yankees, on the other hand, have dropped seven of 11. The pitching staff has struggled in recent weeks, ultimately resulting in a nullified division lead.
Arguably baseball’s toughest division, the AL East hasn’t seen a contending Baltimore squad in 15 years. If the Yankees are challenged, it’s normally Boston or Tampa Bay doing the pushing.
This latest win by Baltimore sent one message loud and clear: the Orioles aren’t going away.
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