BALTIMORE — This one goes a long way toward making up for all the losing seasons, the meaningless Septembers and meager crowds at Camden Yards for the final games on the schedule.

The Baltimore Orioles are AL East champions for the first time since 1997, and they marked the occasion with a celebration that lasted long after the final out of their clinching 8-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

“There are some great moments in your life,” manager Buck Showalter said. “This ranks right up there.”

Showalter arrived in 2010, in the midst of Baltimore’s 13th consecutive losing season. The Orioles lost 93 games in 2011, then broke the franchise-record run of futility by going 93-69 in 2012 to make the postseason as a wild card.

An 85-win season wasn’t good enough to reach the playoffs last year, but now the Orioles are kings of a division that includes the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox, the free-spending New York Yankees, pitching-rich Tampa Bay, and the Blue Jays, who stood atop the AL East in June.

“You never know who is going to win, but you have to be crazy to think they didn’t have a good ball club,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. “They were in it two years ago. When you look at their team, it’s a good ball club. Good solid pitching. They got gritty, hard-nosed type players. You really see that.”

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A boisterous crowd of 35,279 cheered every out and stuck around an hour after the game to cheer the players, who returned to the field after celebrating with champagne and beer in the clubhouse.

Deering High graduate Ryan Flaherty was part of that celebration after walking twice and scoring a run against Toronto. Flaherty, the son of longtime University of Southern Maine coach Ed Flaherty, played second base and third base Tuesday. He has appeared in 92 games for Baltimore this season with a .218 batting average, seven home runs and 30 RBI.

This will be Flaherty’s second chance to play in the postseason with the Orioles. Two years ago, he went 3-for-11 with a home run in four playoff games.

Right fielder Nick Markakis began his career in 2006 and signed a six-year contract in 2009 in the midst of Baltimore’s run of losing seasons. Covered with champagne and grinning broadly, he wouldn’t have traded places with anyone.


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