Five Reasons the O’s Beat the Tigers

Playoff series in baseball always come down to starting pitching and all we’ve been hearing about is how the Detroit Tigers will be rolling out the last three American League Cy Young winners to start the first three games against the O’s—the first time this has ever occurred in baseball history. Yada, yada, yada… You know what? The Orioles’s pitching—this season, the one we are playing right now—is better.

Here are five reasons the O’s will down Detroit:

1. Starting pitching: The O’s finished fifth in the American League in starting pitching, posting a 3.61 ERA. Chris Tillman (above photo), Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, and Miguel Gonzales have been outstanding in the second-half. Detroit ranked 10^th in the American League with a 3.89 ERA. Justin Verlander, the Tigers’s longtime ace, is no longer the dominant pitcher he once was, going 15-12 with a un-Cy Young-like 4.54 ERA in 2014. He’s the Game Two starter Friday at Camden Yards.

2. Bullpen: Playoff games are notoriously tight, with teams scratching for late-inning runs to win close ballgames. The O’s pen is as good as anyone’s in baseball. Closer Zach Britton and set-up men Andrew Miller and Darren O’Day all posted ERAs of 1.70 or under. Tommy Hunter has also regained his velocity and control after battling through injury issues and has been unhittable of late—not allowing a run in his last 12 appearances.

3. Steve Pearce: We tend to view Nelson Cruz, who led the league with 40 homers, picking up where Chris Davis, who led the league in home runs last year, left off. But Pearce, in essentially a half-time role, still gets overlooked. He delivered 21 home runs and 49 RBIs—all seemingly in clutch moments—and will be at first base against the Tigers. Pearce’s home run per at bat ratio was 16.1 this year. If he’d enough at bats to qualify for the official season leader stats that would’ve placed him 7^th in the majors. Pearce’s unexpected production, like Delmon Young and others—are the reason the O’s won 96 games this year.

4. Buck: Losing three All-Stars, having your prize off-season signing (Ubaldo Jimenez) implode, and being forced to thrust an unproven lefty into the closer’s role certainly would’ve ruined most teams. But with Showalter juggling the lineup and pitching staff, as Baltimore magazine editor Jess Mayhugh noted this week, and Dan Duquette filling holes with unlikely replacements such as Nick Hundley, a former third-string catcher for the Padres, catcher Caleb Joseph, a 28-year-old rookie, and outfielder Alejandro De Aza from the White Sox, the O’s won their first division title since 1997 in convincing fashion.

5. When the going gets tough, we get going: As mentioned above, this Orioles squad knows how to overcome obstacles—big and small. The O’s went 32-23 in one-run games, tied for best in the majors, and went 14-6 in extra innings, the best mark in the majors. This kind of poise and savvy bodes well for a long post-season run.

So, that’s five reasons right there why we will beat the Tigers in the American League Division Series and we didn’t even bother mentioning Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, our home field advantage, that the O’s hit the most home runs in the majors this year and ranked third in the American League in fielding. That’s five more.

See you—and the real Chris Tillman—for the first pitch at Camden Yards tomorrow afternoon.