NEW YORK — Before they sprayed champagne and Budweiser throughout the visiting clubhouse of Yankee Stadium on Sunday evening, the Orioles' on-field celebration of their third trip to the playoffs in five years was a muted one.
After a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees in the final game of the regular season, their postgame handshake line didn't resemble anything out of the ordinary.
"It's not a division title," said center fielder Adam Jones, yelling over a blasting sound system, with ski goggles raised over his forehead. "When we won the division in 2014, we were celebrating out there like crazy. But we know it's a stepping stone, and I think what we did was, we respected the wild-card game. We're like, 'OK, good, we're in it,' but we're not gonna go all [out] like that on the field. In here, we're celebrating and having a little bit of fun."
Baltimore expects a winning baseball team, and these Orioles have extended their season for at least one more game. They now head to Toronto, where they will play the Blue Jays in the American League wild-card game Tuesday night at the Rogers Centre, fulfilling a goal to get back to the postseason after last year's .500 season fell short of expectations.
"They've grinded, not since February, but since the season ended last year," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I told them in the last conversation [last year], 'This, too, shall pass.' The game's not always fair. This year, it was, because they got a return for what they put into it. …You look up 'grind' in the dictionary, you should have the 2016 Orioles there, because these guys never gave in."
The Orioles' roller-coaster season will continue into the postseason with unfinished business. The Royals swept them in the AL Championship Series two years ago in Kansas City, and the Orioles lost a heartbreaking Game 5 at Yankee Stadium in the ALDS four years ago.
"Our team is strong, and we've got a chance to play in the postseason," executive vice president Dan Duquette said. "That's all you can ask for. You just roll the dice and see if you can knock on the door and break through this time. … These guys, they grind it out every day. They're there taking care of business. It's a hardworking club. They knew at the start of the road trip what the job was."
The Orioles, who tied the Blue Jays for second place in the AL East with an 89-73 record but lost the tiebreaker because of Toronto's better head-to-head record, never made it easy on themselves. But by no means did they back into the postseason, winning seven of their past nine, including four on the road, to advance to the playoffs. And they ended up needing every win.