With ALDS Sweep of Tigers, Orioles Now Well Positioned for World Series Run

Pop some bubbly, Baltimore. You're four wins away from the World Series.

The last time the Orioles stood on baseball's biggest stage was 1983, which, for those keeping score at home, was a long time ago.

Now, the Birds are on the brink. And, after a decisive sweep of the heavily armed Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series, they're well positioned to fly all the way.

It's too much to call these Orioles underdogs. They won 96 regular-season games, after all, second-best in the American League, and they claimed the AL East crown going away.

But they entered the postseason carrying some question marks. Could the offense, hit by the losses of Matt Wieters and Manny Machado to injury and Chris Davis to an amphetamine suspension, still produce?

And would the starting rotation—which boasts a bevy of solid arms but no shutdown ace—hold up under the October glare?

As they celebrate in the Motor City, the Orioles have answered those questions with a resounding "yes and yes."

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

On Sunday, it was the bat of Nelson Cruz and the arm of Bud Norris. Cruz, who hit .500 in the series with two long balls and five RBI, bashed a two-run homer in the sixth. 

That would prove to be all the offense Baltimore needed. Norris tossed 6.1 scoreless innings, outdueling David Price, and the bullpen made it stand up en route to a 2-1 victory.

Overall, Baltimore outscored Detroit 21-10 in the series. Game 1 was a 12-3 blowout that featured an eight-run eighth inning against a beleaguered Tigers 'pen.

In Game 2, Baltimore came from behind with another big eighth inning, plating four runs in the penultimate frame and winning, 7-6.

In sweeping Detroit, the Orioles bested a trio of Cy Young winners: Max Scherzer, who won the award last year, Price, who won it in 2012, and Verlander, who won it in 2011. It's just the fourth time in history a club has accomplished that feat, according to Cash Kruth of MLB.com. 

Talk about your confidence builders. 

"[This team is] resilient, just doesn't give up," said shortstop J.J. Hardy after Friday's win, per MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli.

Center fielder Adam Jones told Ghiroli something similar after Game 1: "We rise to the occasion. In the face of some good pitchers, we go after them and zone in a little bit more. There's no answer to what we do, we just somehow, someway get the job done."

That's a trait all successful postseason clubs share: a no-quit attitude, an ability to dig in their heels when the pressure is greatest. It's the intangible part of baseball, difficult to quantify but nonetheless essential.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

The Orioles still have a tough road ahead. Dispatching the Tigers was an important first step, but if they're going to make a long-awaited return to the Fall Classic, they'll have to get through another team on a tear—the Kansas City Royals, who swept their ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels. 

Kansas City and Baltimore have a lot in common. Both are success-starved franchises with balanced, unheralded rosters. Both beat star-studded Goliaths. And both are gelling at the right time. Should make for a great ALCS.

Still, it'd be unwise to bet against this O's team.

And that's the key—it looks, and plays, like a team. Sure, there are stars: guys like Cruz and Jones. Mostly, though, the 2014 Orioles are a cohesive unit, one that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Give credit to veteran skipper Buck Showalter for creating a clubhouse vibe The Baltimore Sun lauded in a Sept. 17 op ed:

"

Two years ago, the Orioles made the playoffs as a wild card, but that was a team that seemed an anomaly...This year's team has been something different altogether—possessing that most magical of qualities known as team chemistry. The entire line-up contributes, and so does the whole pitching staff. It is not a team of stars...but a band of brothers who seem unfazed by the challenges they've faced...

"

There will be more challenges before Baltimore's October story is written. Right now, it's time to sip (or wildly spray) champagne and ponder the possibilities.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.