THE Orioles had not had a winning season or made the playoffs since 1997.
It was just two seasons removed from Buck Showalter leading the Yankees to their first postseason appearance in 14 years. Now Baltimore is back after a 15-year hiatus — with Buck at the helm.
Roundly picked to finish last, these Orioles chased the Yanks until the last day of the season. And now here they are trying to haunt them again. The teams split the regular season 9-9 with Baltimore barely outscoring the Yanks 92-90. So whichever team finishes with the winning record in the season series — including this ALDS — will be one step away from the World Series. The Orioles’ formula for winning was power and pen, somewhat similar to that of the Yankees.
Here is a deeper look at Baltimore:
THE ROTATING ROTATION
Baltimore has used 12 starters (eight against the Yankees alone) due to injury and ineffectiveness. Only Kansas City (13) sent out more among AL clubs. And that flip-flopping spirit that led to Baltimore having just one pitcher make more than 20 starts (Wei-Yin Chen) apparently will be alive in the ALDS.
Jason Hammel has made just two starts since July 13, none since Sept. 11 when he re-aggravated a surgically repaired right knee. But he will start Game 1.
The interesting wild card, though, is Miguel Gonzalez, a minor league vagabond turned 28-year-old rookie find for the Orioles (9-4, 3.25). The Yanks faced him twice and went a combined 10-for-51 (.196) with just one walk against 17 strikeouts. When Gonzalez is on, he gets ahead with a well-placed 90-93 mph fastball and seduces with a changeup consistently 10 mph slower.
Still, the rotation can be homer-susceptible and is not an Oriole strength. Obviously, every team wants to score as early and often as possible. But cashing in opportunities with runs (not always a Yankee strong suit) is magnified against Baltimore, which is 75-0 when leading after seven innings, including the wild card triumph over Texas.
LIFE OF BRIAN
Brian Matusz was part of that Baltimore rotating rotation earlier in the season, and so were Jake Arrieta and Tommy Hunter. All lost those jobs. But each has helped an already deep pen, Arrieta and Hunter with power arms (36 strikeouts in a combined 30 1/3 relief innings). But it is Matusz who is a revelation, emerging as a reliable lefty out of the pen.
This is not what the Orioles envisioned when they took Matusz with the fourth overall selection in 2008 — the Giants selected Buster Posey with the next pick. But in 68 starts spread over four seasons, Matusz was a disaster (21-33, 5.51 ERA). He was sent to the minors in early July, converted to relief and suddenly his stuff — namely his slider — became sharper.
It is a small sample, but in 18 games, Matusz has held opponents to a .114 average, which includes 0-for-16 by righties. But his main job, though, will be to defuse the Yankees¹ lefty sluggers Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson and Raul Ibanez. So he will play a vital role in this series. Matusz, in conjunction with Darren O’Day, were critical presences late in the year. Eighth-inning man Pedro Strop faded, but the pen stayed efficient. Mainly because of superb relief work (closer Jim Johnson was 51 of 54 in save tries), the Orioles were 29-9 in one-run games (the best in the modern era) and 16-2 in extra innings. However, they were just 2-2 against the Yanks in one-run games and their only two extra-inning losses occurred on April 10-11 against the Yanks. The Orioles then won 16 straight in extras, the longest such streak since 1949.
“The starting pitching has been really solid this year, but I’m not sure I’m ready to trust it in a playoff setting,” an AL scout said. “Buck is so adept at managing the bullpen that I think to beat them you really have to bounce the starters early and stretch the bullpen because if you allow them to use the pen on their terms, they’ve proven they can win the close games.”
POWER PUNCH
Only the Yankees (245) hit more homers than the Orioles (215). But Baltimore hit just 87 on the road (11th in the majors). Nevertheless, 14 were at Yankee Stadium.
Mark Reynolds and Curtis Granderson are similar — low average, high strikeouts, big power. Reynolds hit seven homers against the Yankees and Granderson hit seven vs. the Orioles. But Baltimore did spread the wealth. J.J. Hardy hit six homers against the Yankees, Matt Wieters hit four, and Adam Jones and Chris Davis hit three each.
Again, this is one of those “easier said” items, but the Yanks have to find a way to contain this power because Baltimore is not a well-rounded offense. The Yanks, with all those homers, finished second in scoring. The Orioles, despite the homers, finished 15th.
Showalter feels like a true descendant of Earl Weaver, waiting for the three-run homer. No team had fewer steals (58) than Baltimore. Only Jones and Nate McLouth are threats on the bases. The Orioles don’t hit for a ton of average or draw an inordinate amount of walks. They want to drive the ball out of the park as Davis did in six consecutive games late in the year.
Reynolds, Jones, Hardy are righty hitters, and an opponent would prefer to turn the switch-hitting Wieters to his weaker left side. The Yankee righty relief — pitchers such as Cody Eppley, Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Rafael Soriano — are going to be important to neutralize a big part of this might in the late innings.
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
The Orioles don’t steal. On the other hand, teams don¹t do it much against them either. Wieters is a very good catcher. Baltimore allowed just 63 steals ‹ 24 fewer than any other AL team. Add Hardy at short and Jones in center and the Orioles are strong up the middle.
But what really solidified the Baltimore D was promoting precocious Manny Machado, 20. He is a very good defender at third. It got Reynolds off of third, where he was atrocious, to first, where he is much better. Now losing Nick Markakis, a strong defender in right, hurts. But Davis has not undermined the Orioles in place of Markakis.
READY FOR THE SHOW?
Before beating Texas in the wild card game, Showalter had been to the playoffs twice — and lost in the Division Series each time. But for large segments of the Orioles, the win over the Rangers was their first playoff game.
Obviously, in the Yankees, Baltimore will be facing the most playoff-tested squad in the tournament. But the Orioles did not back down all season from the challenge and, in fact, Showalter seems to particularly relish facing his former team.
Still, despite the relentless challenge, the Yankees never surrendered first place completely to the Orioles down the stretch. There is no doubt that the Yanks are a championship-tested group. The intensity is going to go up for key players such as Davis, Johnson, Jones, Machado, Wieters and a few of the starting pitchers to show they can handle this forum.
joel.sherman@nypost.com