New Oriole Nelson Cruz led the majors in home runs with 40; following Chris Davis' 2013 championship this was the first time in franchise history two Orioles (or Browns) had won back-to-back home run titles. As a team the Birds hit 211 home runs to lead baseball, their third consecutive 200-homer season (another franchise first).
Preceding offseasonedit
Entering the offseason, the Orioles had 11 arbitration eligible players, three contract options, and several outgoing free agents. They looked to make additions to their starting rotation, to add a "big bat", as well as to improve their bullpen, which was strong in 2012, but "average" in 2013.[1]
Outgoing free agentsedit
LHP Tsuyoshi Wada signed a minor league contract with invitation to spring training with Chicago Cubs on 12/19/13
2B Brian Roberts – signed a 1-year, US$2,000,000 contract with New York Yankees on 1/14/14 (Roberts was the longest tenured member of the Baltimore Orioles prior to his departure)[15]
On March 31, the Orioles won their 2014 regular season opener against the Boston Red Sox, but then proceeded to lose their next four games. After a full week and a 4–2 loss to the New York Yankees, the Orioles were in last place in the American League East and 3 games below .500. Orioles All-Star 3rd baseman Manny Machado, still recovering from off-season surgery, did not play in any games for the Orioles during the month of April; but Orioles catcher Matt Wieters got off to an uncharacteristically fast start hitting .338 with 4 home runs and 15 RBIs.[26] The Orioles finished the month with 11 wins and 12 losses.[27]
Mayedit
Tommy Hunter started the season as the Orioles closer and was successful in 11 of his 12 save opportunities, but he blew 2 consecutive saves on May 10 and 13 and then was placed on the 15-day disabled list.[28] On May 11, the Orioles placed catcher Matt Wieters on the disabled list. Wieters was hitting over .300 and would ultimately be lost to the team for the entire season. The Orioles finished May with 15 wins and 15 losses but moved up to 3rd place in the American League East. The one bright spot in an otherwise mediocre April–May was the torrid hitting of new Oriole Nelson Cruz; by May 31 Cruz led all of MLB with a staggering 20 home runs and 51 runs batted in.
Juneedit
On June 6, the Orioles lost to the Oakland Athletics, 4–3 in 11 innings, dropping them 6 1/2 games out of first place. It would be the farthest out of first that the Orioles would be all season.[27]Adam Jones batted .348 with nine homers and 20 RBIs in June.[29]Utility playerSteve Pearce, who had appeared in only 3 games for the Orioles in April, batted .361 in June with 5 home runs and 13 RBI's.[30]
The Birds finished the month with 16 wins and 12 losses, trailing the first-place Blue Jays by one game.[27]
Julyedit
On Saturday July 5, the Orioles split a double-header with the Boston Red Sox and moved into sole possession of first place in the American League East and would remain in first place for the rest of the season.[27] By the All-Star break, the Orioles had increased their lead to 4 games[27] and three Oriole players were voted by the fans to the American League squad: Matt Weiters (his third), Adam Jones (his fourth) and Nelson Cruz (his third). This marked the first time in club history that three Orioles were voted onto the American League squad in consecutive years.[29] By the end of the month, new Oriole closer Zach Britton had 11 saves for the month[31] and the Orioles led the American League East by 1.5 games.[27]
Augustedit
On August 9, reserve catcher Caleb Joseph hit a home run in the Orioles' 10–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals; making him the first Orioles catcher to homer in 5 consecutive games.[32]
Orioles 3rd baseman Machado injured his right knee on an awkward swing against the New York Yankees on August 11. After going on the disabled list and trying to rest his knee, he decided to have his knee surgically repaired thus ending his season.[33] Oriole shortstop J. J. Hardy batted .322 for the month with 5 homeruns and 18 RBI's.[34] First baseman Chris Davis filled in for Machado at third and hit 7 homeruns with 17 rbi's for the month.[35] The Orioles ended the month of August with four consecutive wins; increasing their lead in the American League East to 9 full games over the second place Yankees.
Septemberedit
The Orioles started the month with a 6–4 loss to the Minnesota Twins but still maintained an 8 1/2 game lead over the second place Yankees.[27] Newly acquired outfielder Alejandro De Aza also started the month with the Orioles and before September was over he would hit 3 triples, 3 home runs, drive in 10 runs and bat over .300.[36] On September 7, the Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7–5; Nelson Cruz went 4-for-5 with two home runs and 7 RBIs.[37] On September 12, Orioles' first baseman Chris Davis was suspended for 25 games for testing positive for amphetamine.[38] Davis claimed he tested positive due to the use of adderall—for which he previous had a "therapeutic use exemption" but did not have for the 2014 season.[39]
External videos
Orioles clinch AL East YouTube video
On Tuesday, September 16, the Orioles clinched the American League East Championship by beating the second place Toronto Blue Jays 8–2. The Orioles had not won an American League East title since 1997 and Tuesday marked the first time since 1969 that the Orioles won a division title in front of their fans at home.[40] Steve Pearce, who had replaced Chris Davis at first base, blasted a three-run homerun off Toronto right-hander Drew Hutchison to give the Orioles a 3–1 lead in the first inning. Oriole right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez, who hadn't been in the starting rotation for a month, picked up the win.[40] On September 25, the Orioles gave up a walk off hit to Derek Jeter in his final game at Yankee Stadium.
The Orioles finished the season with 211 home runs. 2014 is the third consecutive season the Orioles hit more than 200 home runs and the first time in franchise history that they did it 3 years in a row.[41] The Orioles 401 walks were also the fewest walks as the modern Orioles[41] and their 44 stolen bases were their fewest since 1961.[41]
* The codes in larger text are those which will be used most frequently. The codes in smaller text are only used for one game per season and needn't be concerned about in early months (Apr.-Aug.) of the season.
Baltimore Orioles 2014 Season Game Log — Season Record: 96–66 (.593) — Home: 50–31 — Road: 46–35
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
The Orioles swept the Detroit Tigers in the Division Series.
ALDS notesedit
The 12 runs scored by the Orioles in Game 1 were the most runs the Orioles have ever scored in a post-season game.[42]
The Orioles sweep of the Tigers was their first post-season sweep since 1971 when they beat the Oakland Athletics 3–0.[43]
By winning successive games against 2011, 2012 and 2013 Cy Young Award winners Justin Verlander, David Price and Max Scherzer, the Orioles became only the fourth team to win a postseason series over three Cy Young winners, the only one ever to do so in consecutive games, and the only one not against the 1990s Braves trio of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz. In fact, with the final regular-season win over Toronto's R. A. Dickey, the Orioles won 4 consecutive games started by Cy Young winners, an unprecedented feat.
Championship Seriesedit
The Orioles were swept by the Kansas City Royals 4 games to 0 in the AL pennant series.
Postseason game logedit
2014 Baltimore Orioles Postseason Game Log
American League Division Series vs. Detroit Tigers (Baltimore won series 3–0)
^Polishuk, Mark (October 30, 2013). "Offseason Outlook: Baltimore Orioles". MLB Rumors – MLBTradeRumors.com. MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Gleeman, Aaron (January 31, 2014). "Rays sign Wilson Betemit". HardballTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Connolly, Dan (January 10, 2014). "Baltimore Orioles re-sign Alexi Casilla to a minor league deal". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Ghiroli, Brittany (January 7, 2014). "Os resign Gamboa and Clark to Minor League deals". Britt's Bird Watch – MLBlogs Network. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Fordin, Spencer (January 6, 2014). "Chris Dickerson signs Minor League deal with Pirates". pirates.com: News. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Durrett, Richard (December 6, 2013). "Houston Astros to sign Scott Feldman". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Sullivan, Paul (January 31, 2014). "Cubs come to agreement with free agent pitcher Jason Hammel". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^"Blue Jays sign Dan Johnson to minor league deal, with invite him to spring training". Bluebird Banter – SBNation.com. Vox Media. November 15, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Kane, Colleen (January 21, 2014). "Sox announce spring training invitees". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Wagner, James (December 12, 2013). "Nationals officially announce signing of Nate McClouth". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Associated Press (December 17, 2013). "Michael Morse, San Francisco Giants finalize $6 million, 1-year deal". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^"Rockies announce non-roster players for 2014 Spring Training" (Press release). Colorado Rockies, MLB Advanced Media. February 4, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^"Royals sign pitcher Jon Rauch to minor league contract" (Press release). Kansas City Royals, MLB Advanced Media. January 23, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Encina, Eduardo; Connolly, Dan (December 17, 2013). "Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts signs with Yankees". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Axisa, Mike (February 7, 2014). "Brewers to sign Francisco Rodriguez to one-year deal". Eye on Baseball – CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^Short, D. J. (December 21, 2013). "Nationals sign catcher Chris Snyder to a minor-league contract". HardballTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^DiComo, Anthony (January 6, 2014). "Mets sign catcher Taylor Teagarden to Minor League deal". MLB.com: News. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^ abc"The Official Site of The Baltimore Orioles: Team: Transactions". Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^"The Official Site of The Baltimore Orioles: Team: Transactions". Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ abc"The Official Site of The Baltimore Orioles: Team: Transactions". Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^"The Official Site of The Baltimore Orioles: Team: Transactions". Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^"The Official Site of The Baltimore Orioles: Team: Transactions". Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^"Matt Weiters". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
^ abcdefg"2014 Baltimore Orioles". BaseBall Reference.com. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
^"Tommy Hunter". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
^ ab"Cruz, Jones, Wieters voted All-Star starters". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
^"Steve Pearce". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
^"Zack Britton Game by Game Stats and Performance".
^Townsend, Mark. "Orioles rookie Caleb Joseph has homered in five straight games". YahooSports. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
^"Manny Machado: Surgery only choice". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
^"J. J. Hardy". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
^"Chris Davis". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
^"Alejandro De Aza". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
^"Cruz drives in seven as O's avoid sweep, pad lead". MLB.com. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
^Crasnick, Jerry (September 12, 2014). "Chris Davis banned 25 games". ESPN. Retrieved September 12, 2014.