The Baltimore Orioles are headed to the postseason for just the third time since the 1997 campaign.
Baltimore clinched a wild-card berth with a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday, as the team shared on Twitter:
The Boston Red Sox won the American League East, relegating the Orioles to the American League Wild Card Game.
The Seattle Mariners were eliminated from contention after a 9-8 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Saturday, which left the Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers battling for the two wild-card spots at the start of Sunday’s schedule.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports explained the situation before the Tigers lost to the Atlanta Braves, ensuring it will be Toronto and Baltimore in the Wild Card Game:
While the scenarios were confusing, that didn’t stop the Orioles from celebrating after they knew they did their part. The team shared some of the scenes after Sunday’s win:
Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com passed along more of the celebration:
Kevin Gausman pitched 7.1 inning Sunday, allowing two earned runs. He received some run support from Matt Wieters, who drilled two home runs.
Long balls are nothing new for Baltimore’s offense. As of Sunday, it led the major leagues with 251 home runs, far ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals (224). Mark Trumbo, the team’s primary slugger, was slashing .256/.316/.533 with 47 home runs and 108 RBI entering Sunday’s contest.
Elsewhere, Chris Davis has 38 homers, and Manny Machado has 37. Pedro Alvarez, Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones also each boast more than 20 long balls on the 2016 season.
The team’s slugging was critical as the Orioles earned a trip to the playoffs with lackluster starting pitching, ranking 24th in the big leagues with a 4.74 ERA as of Sunday.
However, Chris Tillman and Gausman both have ERAs below 4.00. In shortened postseason series, they can take the mound multiple times and keep Baltimore in contention.
The Orioles also have a lights-out bullpen that should help shorten those October games. As of Sunday, it was third in the majors with a 3.41 ERA.
Closer Zach Britton, the anchor of the group, had sparkling numbers entering Sunday’s game: a 0.54 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP, 47 saves and 74 strikeouts in 67 innings. A weapon like that at the back end of the bullpen is a scary proposition for any postseason opponent.
Between the bullpen and the power, Baltimore has the pieces to challenge for its first World Series title since the 1983 season.
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