O’s prove it vs. AL East beasts

Battle-tested Orioles equipped to hang with the big boys

TORONTO – “It’s early.”

That’s what Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has repeatedly said when asked about his team’s success this season. The caveat from the skipper is understandable, as a hot start far from guarantees the same the rest of the way.

However, it’s no longer “early.” The season is nearly 30% finished, and the Orioles (31-16) still own the second-best record in the major leagues — a status they’ve held for most of May. Through 47 games, Baltimore is battle-tested, and they’ve largely passed those tests with flying colors.

In April, the Orioles took care of business against several inferior opponents to have one of the best first months in franchise history. In May, they’ve held their own against National League-best Atlanta, won a series against MLB-best Tampa Bay and, most recently, completed a rare three-game sweep of American League East foe Toronto.

Baltimore lost its first two series against division opponents, taking just one game out of three against the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Since, the Orioles have proved they belong in baseball’s best division — if they even needed to after their emergence last season — by winning each of their past three series against AL East clubs.

“This team’s capable of so much, and I think that it’s only a matter of time before everybody’s talking about it, if they’re not already,” said Terrin Vavra, whose two-run single in the 11th inning Sunday broke the game open. “It’s fun to be a part of, and hopefully we keep it rolling.”

Discussing the AL East’s prowess has almost become a cliché. With big spenders New York, Boston and Toronto and analytically savvy Tampa Bay, the division has been a juggernaut in recent years. Add the plucky Orioles, who spent most of 2018 through 2021 in the division’s cellar, and the collection of clubs looks indomitable.

The combined run differential of AL East teams is a whopping plus-219 — more than half of which is made up by the dominant Rays — and the division’s winning percentage is .609, as all five clubs are above .500. No other division has a run differential above plus-11 or a winning percentage better than .512.

Last year, the Orioles went 34-42 in the division with losing records against all four clubs. This year, with MLB’s new balanced schedule that has teams play 52 divisional games instead of 76, Baltimore’s 9-6 record against the AL East is best in the division.

“Every game’s big, whether it’s AL East or not, but it seems like the stakes are a little bit higher when you’re playing in the division,” first baseman Ryan Mountcastle said. “Last

year, I think we got a taste of it. They were big games, especially the second half of the year. I think we got used to it.”

The three-game sweep over the Blue Jays was the Orioles’ first over an AL East opponent since April 2021 against the Red Sox. The last time they swept the Blue Jays was August 2018, and they last did so at Rogers Centre in April 2005.

“In order to sweep, a lot of things have to go your way, and we were able to dominate those moments,” said Cedric Mullins, who went 5-for-6 Sunday and leads the Orioles in OPS (.876) and RBIs (38). “AL East is also a difficult division. For us to pull a sweep off today kind of shows where we are as a team.”

To some, the 31-16 start, good for a 106-win pace over a 162-game season, is a surprise for a young team with the second-lowest payroll in sport at $60.8 million. It might be even more so considering Baltimore was expected — by projection systems and sportsbooks — to regress.

The vast majority of teams that break the glass ceiling as the Orioles did in 2022 fall back down to earth the following year. That could still happen for the 2023 club, but so far, it looks likely that Baltimore will outperform its projections of 74-78 wins. The last time the Orioles were 15 games over .500 was in 2016, the year of their most recent playoff berth.

“I’m not surprised. I’m just encouraged by the start, and I like how we’re playing,” Hyde said. “You look what we did from the middle of May on last year, we’ve played really good baseball for the last year.”

After Saturday’s extra-inning win, lefthanded bench bat Ryan O’Hearn, who blasted a three-run homer to tie the game in the eighth, said how the Orioles played Sunday could “make a statement.” Sunday’s win was far from perfect, as starter Dean Kremer was shaky but battled, Baltimore’s bats were largely stymied by starter Kevin Gausman and, before coming up clutch at the end, the bullpen gave up a one-run lead.

The way they won, though, is emblematic, in O’Hearn’s mind, of the type of team the Orioles are. The comeback win was their 18th of the season, and they’re 9-5 in one-run games.

Hyde used every player on his bench and every available arm in his bullpen. And a game that would’ve been easy to write off as a loss — going up against Gausman with a taxed bullpen and already a series win in hand — turned into another thrilling triumph.

“This team has no quit,” O’Hearn said. “You’ve got quality at-bats up and down the lineup, a nasty bullpen, guys play great defense. I think when you bring all those things together, the sky’s the limit.

“It’s pretty fun to be a part of right now.” Hyde, understandably, is wary of declaring any single game out of 162 a “statement.” While the Orioles are just 2 games back of the Rays, who started the season with 13 consecutive wins, they’re one bad series away from being tied with the Yankees, who they play in New York this week, and just six games ahead of last place in the division.

“We’ve got four-plus months to go,” Hyde said, “and it’s gonna be a battle.”