96 wins

[mmmbeer]

Hard to believe they reached 96 without Davis and Manny.  Much better than I guessed.  I hope they can tighten up at 3rd base for the playoffs and o'day got those homers out of his system.

[Evil Yoda]

And Wieters.

They better have a heart-to-heart with Davis. He's a very young man to be looking at a season-long suspension if he fails another drug test.

I sure hope Manny isn't going to be one of those fragile players. And I don't like the fact he apparently idolizes ARod. There's nothing ARod can teach him that I want him learning. Ah, well, he'll be the Yankees problem in, what? Four more years?

[Ravenchamp]

Be nice if the O's took it to the house this year

[shutout]

Nothing like focusing players that aren't playing.

[Deleted]

An offense that relies heavily on the homerun is prone to dry spells, and particularly in the playoffs with advanced scouting and better pitching overall. But the Orioles do get the odd game in homer-friendly Camden Yards, as opposed to Tiger Stadium--or whatever the hell it's called--which is anathema to homerun hitters. I wouldn't be surprised to see Chen bumped back to Game 3 for this reason to face the Tigers' righthanded power in a more pitcher-friendly park.

I think the one big advantage the Orioles have is the bullpen, which can shorten games as well as anyone in the playoffs. The fact that they played more one-run games than anyone in the American League is testament to the bullpen's shutdown ability. Detroit's bullpen, by comparison, is atrocious. The pressure's going to be on their starters to throw enough quality innings to lessen the dependence on the relievers.