Fastball

American League East Makes Negative Baseball History as Playoff Woes Continue

With the Baltimore Orioles being swept in the American League Division Series, the American League East continued a woeful stretch in playoff baseball history.

Brady Farkas

American League East Makes Negative Baseball History as Playoff Woes Continue
American League East Makes Negative Baseball History as Playoff Woes Continue /
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The Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night 7-1 to advance to the American League Championship Series.

In addition to advancing to the ALCS for the first time since 2011, the Rangers also contributed to the historic playoff woes of teams in the American League East.

Per @OptaSTATS on social media:

AL East in the 2023 regular season: best record by a 5+ team division in MLB history (449-361, .554) 

AL East in the 2023 postseason: most losses without a win by a single division in a single postseason in MLB history (0-7)

The Orioles (three games), Rays (two games) and Blue Jays (two games) were each swept this postseason. Furthermore, the Yankees were swept in a four-game series last season in the ALCS against the Astros, meaning that it's been 11 straight playoff losses for the division, which is shocking given how good the division is each year.

The Orioles (101-61) won the division this year. The Rays (99-63) were second with the Blue Jays (89-73) finishing third. The Yankees (82-80) and Red Sox (78-84) finished fourth and fifth.

It's a disappointing end to a great year for the Orioles, who won an American League-best 101 games. Armed with a young core of Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, the O's figure to be a problem in the American League for years to come, but that won't take away the sting of this year.

As for the Rangers in the ALCS, they'll await the winner of the Astros-Twins series, which plays Game 4 on Wednesday.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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