Blue Jays Continue Utter Dominance Over Orioles In 2010

After defeating the Orioles 5-0 on Wednesday night, the Toronto improved to an astounding 12-0 against Baltimore in 2010. Analysts frequently allude to the Jays tough position in having to compete in the American League East, but getting to dominate the Orioles may make it worth it.

Overall, the Blue Jays are 53-49 this season, which means they are merely 41-49 (.455 winning percentage) against teams that aren’t the Orioles. Over one-fifth of Toronto’s victories this season, a full 22.6%, have come against Baltimore. With the Orioles accounted for, the Blue Jays are, well, the Blue Jays. Without the Oriole bump, they’re closer to being the Cubs. The Blue Jays have more wins, already, against Baltimore than they managed against the National League (7) or the AL West (8) to date.

The Orioles, for their part, are bad either way. Sure, they’re 0-12 against Toronto, but they’re also 31-58 against everyone else. That 31-58 record comes out to a .348 winning percentage, which would still be the worst winning percentage in baseball. Birdland! Nevertheless, the odds of a .455 team (the Blue Jays w/o the Orioles) beating a .348 team (the Orioles w/o the Blue Jays) 12 straight times is very, very, small.

The Blue Jays have outscored the Orioles 70-23 in those 12 games, which comes out to an average victory of 5.8 to 1.9. Still, the Orioles have had their chances, as they’ve lost two one-run games to those dreaded Jays. For what it’s worth, the Yankees are 10-2 against Baltimore this season, so there’s some precedent for other teams destroying the 2010 Orioles.

The most recent example of a similarly lop-sided season series I’ve found is from 2006. That season, the Athletics went 17-2 against the Mariners, which played a huge role in Oakland winning the AL West. Unfortunately for the 2010 Blue Jays, they only have six games remaining against Baltimore. They might need twenty more to catapult them into first place.