Orioles Prove They Can Pitch with Anyone in ALDS Game 1 Rout of Tigers

It was a tale of two pitching staffs Thursday night in Baltimore, and for the Orioles, it was the best of times. For the Detroit Tigers? Not so much.

Playing in front of a raucous Camden Yards crowd, the O's pounded the Tigers 12-3 in Game 1 of their American League Division Series and displayed the balanced attack that led them to 96 wins and the American League East crown: a healthy dose of offense, sure, but also a solid performance from the starting pitcher and a lockdown bullpen effort.

Detroit, meanwhile, got a decent but not great start from reigning AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer followed by a full-blown bullpen meltdown.

For Baltimore, it began with starter Chris Tillman. The 26-year-old right-hander had a fine season (3.34 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 207.1 IP, 150 SO) but he's no one's idea of an elite ace.

He wasn't spectacular Thursday night. Still, he gave the Orioles exactly what they needed, lasting five innings while surrendering two runs on four hits. Most importantly, he handed a 3-2 lead to the relief corps, and it never relinquished it.

Four Baltimore relievers—Andrew Miller, Darren O'Day, Zach Britton and Tommy Hunter—combined to allow just one run in four innings with four strikeouts.

By the final frame, all suspense had been drained from the game. Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera pulled the Tigers within a run in the eighth inning, cracking a solo home run just over the right-center field wall to make it 4-3.

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The Orioles, though, struck back in a big way in the bottom half of the inning, plating eight runs against Scherzer and a hapless Tigers bullpen.

Nelson Cruz, who singled home a run in the eighth, led the charge for Baltimore, going 2-for-4 overall with a home run and three RBI. With that said, the O's got contributions from up and down the lineup.

It took three relievers to finally stop the bleeding for Detroit. Among them was Joakim Soria, who was acquired at the trade deadline to shore up the late innings yet coughed up four runs on three hits while recording just one out.

The contrast couldn't have been starker. The Orioles, a club with scant experience under the postseason glare, were firing on all cylinders.

The Tigers, a team that has made the playoffs in each of the last three seasons and advanced to the World Series in 2012, blew a gasket.

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The series isn't over—far from it. Detroit has more postseason-tested aces in its arsenal, and the middle of its order—Cabrera and Victor as well as J.D. Martinez—is fearsome. In fact, each launched a long ball in Game 1.

The Orioles, though, didn't just win a game. They made a statement. "We belong on this stage," they shouted loud and clear. "And our pitching is a major reason why."

"

Pitching wins titles but this @Orioles offense might make it unnecessary this #postseason.

— Arturo Pardavila III (@Arturo3) October 3, 2014"

That's easy to forget, especially in light of the star-wattage disparity between the Tigers' and Orioles' hurlers. Andy Martino of the New York Daily News touched on this:

"

The Tigers not only have [Justin] Verlander, the Kate Upton paramour as likely to grace the pages of Us Weekly as any baseball player, but added Tampa Bay ace David Price in a deadline trade this year. Oh, and they also boast Scherzer, who won the Cy Young Award in 2013, and is about to receive one of the larger free agent contracts ever for a pitcher.

Baltimore, meanwhile, has a largely anonymous staff...

"

If the Orioles are going to knock off the Tigers and make a deep run, this will be the formula. Get some quality innings out of their stable of solid but unheralded starters—Wei-Yin Chen goes in Game 2, per Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun—then hand it over to a deep bullpen that posted a 3.10 ERA in the regular season.

Compare that to Detroit's bullpen (4.29 ERA), and you get back to that whole "best of times, worst of times" deal.

"We find ways to win," Steve Pearce, who started Game 1 at first base for the Orioles, told The Associated Press (h/t the Boston Herald) on Sept. 30. "When we find ourselves in big games, everybody's been stepping up all year."

Tomorrow, that could change. Today, the O's and their arms are flying high.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.