Orioles Sweep Reds, Maintain Big Lead in A.L. East Race

The Baltimore Orioles completed a three game sweep of the fading Cincinnati Reds on September 4th, beating them by a score of 9-7. The Orioles are hot right now, winning nine out of 11 games on their just concluded homestand. They lead the American League East by 9 ½ games, which is the biggest lead of any of the division leaders. Baltimores’ record of 82-57 is the second best in baseball behind the Los Angeles Angels (84-55). The Orioles play clubs within their division the rest of the season, so they are in an excellent position to determine their own fate.

The Orioles don’t have a lot of household names on their roster, in part because of the presence of the high profile Yankees and Red Sox in the same division. Baltimore has seven players with home runs in double figures, including Nelson Cruz, who hit his major league leading 37th home run of the season against the Reds on the 4th:

Four time All Star centerfielder Adam Jones has 24 homers and 81 RBIs, and Chris Davis has 25 homers and 71 RBIs despite hitting just .195. Imagine what he could do if he could just hit .250. The pitching has been solid; left hander Wei-Yin Chan is 14-4 with 3.83 ERA, righthander Chris Tillman is 11-5 with a 3.40 ERA, and closer Zach Britton has 33 saves and a 1.84 ERA. Casual fans who aren’t familiar with these players will get a chance to do so this October.