Orioles focused on winning division

BALTIMORE, Md. - The boys of summer are now the boys of fall.  After winning all three games against the Boston Red Sox, and the Angels losing a game, the Orioles have secured a wild card spot in the playoffs. 

Last year, the O's spoiled Boston's playoff hopes, but there was no revenge this weekend.  They have 92 wins, and the club remains focused on trying to win the AL East.

"I'm 33.  But I was young.  I would have been 5 when they went to the World Series," said Brian Cline as he was coming out of Sunday’s game.   

The World Series is one thing.  It's been 15 years since the O's have been to the playoffs.  Camden Yards was full of orange, not Boston's blue and red.  There was a reported 41,257 fans for a Sunday game in late September.

"Hopefully next year, the first couple months of the season, we get that crowd back because it's fun playing in front of 40,000 Orioles fans," said Orioles Center Fielder Adam Jones.    

"It was crazy.  First time I've ever seen fans stand up and cheer when it's not even the last game or anything," said Justus Butterer.    

The players stood by their fans as the Angels wrapped up their first of two games against the Rangers on Sunday.  The game was put up on the board.  With an Angels win, the O's were unable to clinch a Wild Card game while in Baltimore.

"Our goal now is to try to figure out a way to play some more baseball games here at Camden," said Club Manager Buck Showalter. 

A home game against the Yankees is a possibility on Thursday.  So many wins mean a young girl's parents will feel better about her chosen name.

"The team was not great when we named her, so we took a lot of flak for naming her Kamdyn.  So if we changed the spelling a little bit, we figured we could get away with it," said Brad Butterer.    

The Orioles are in Tampa Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night.  Club Manager Buck Showalter called them three tough games against a good pitching team.  But wins in Tampa could push the O’s past the Yankees to seal the division.