AL East Sibling Rivalry with the Orioles

Remember a few months back when I talked about how the Blue Jays and Rays have a bit of an AL East Sibling Rivalry going on?

It was as if the younger brother of the American League had grown taller, faster and stronger and could now easily overpower its older brother.

Well, imagine if there was one kid in the family who not only got picked on and teased as a child, but grew up and still somehow managed to get picked on and teased as an adult. That would be the Baltimore Orioles.

This year especially, the Blue Jays have the Orioles number. They have beat them in ten straight games, outscored them 57-21 and out-homered them 21-1.

One can’t help but feel pity for a team that’s 37 games under .500 and was basically out of the running for playoff consideration as early as mid-May.

I particularly enjoyed the quote Jordan Bastian snagged from Jose Bautista on whether he feels bad for the Baltimore Orioles.

“I’m sure somebody is going to beat up on us, so it’s nice to be able to beat somebody every time we play them.”

Bautista could not be more right with that quote. While the Jays are still undefeated against the lowly Orioles, they have a combined 8-16 record against other American League East opponents.

But you know what? No matter how easy things might look against the Orioles, you should never underestimate them. Last night was a perfect example – the Blue Jays took their foot off the gas pedal for a few innings, and it lead to the tying run coming to the plate.

If you ever played softball as a kid, it’s like being one run away from the mercy rule, then your team dogs it the rest of the game and you almost end up losing it because that eight run lead seemed pretty comfortable at the time.

After all, don’t feel bad for the Baltimore Orioles … because they probably feel bad enough for themselves.