Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS were pretty painful and at times downright torturous for Orioles fans. In Game 1 the bats were largely quiet and certainly didn’t deliver the big hits when the O’s needed them. In Game 2 the bats were plenty loud, but when your pitchers issue 11 total walks and give up nine runs over the first three innings, loud bats just simply aren’t enough.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s state the other obvious thing: this Orioles team got here by being one of the most resilient teams in the game.