On the heels of maybe the best Baltimore weekend ever—celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner WHILE taking three of four from the Bronx Bombers at Camden Yards—the O’s magic number for clinching the division title is suddenly down to one. Sure, we were thrilled when we made the playoffs two years ago, but a division title has been a long time coming—we’ve got staffers who were in middle school the last time the O’s won the American League East.

We don’t pretend to understand how exactly the seemingly unbeatable O’s are doing it, given season-ending injuries to their All-Star catcher and third baseman (not to mention the 25-game suspension of their All-Star first baseman), but everyone who pulls on that Oriole jersey this year comes through when needed. Doesn’t matter if they started the season in the minors, on the bench, or with another club. Maybe it’s good karma shining on Baltimore two centuries after local militia volunteers and Fort McHenry troops stepped up to the plate.

We just hope it lasts through October.

PS: We also liked Nelson Cruz’s bilingual tweet after last night’s game:

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