Stroman leads Blue Jays to 1st division crown since 1993

For the first time since 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays are champions of the American League East.

Having already snapped their 22-year postseason drought earlier last week, the Blue Jays captured the division title Wednesday with a 15-2 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles.

It seemed only fitting that the improbable turnaround of the Blue Jays' season was capped off with Marcus Stroman on the mound at Camden Yards. The 24-year-old continued to dazzle following his early return from ACL surgery, tossing eight solid innings to pick up his fourth win in as many starts.

"It still feels like a dream to be honest with you," Stroman told reporters. "Just kinda how everything played out from the beginning of my season, and being in this position to help my team clinch, it's been a journey and it's been a special ride."

After sitting one game over .500 on Aug. 1, the Blue Jays' retooled roster has stormed up the standings, going 39-13 to overtake the New York Yankees and cruise to a division title with five games remaining.

With their initial shot to clinch Tuesday delayed by rain, the Blue Jays' offense was relentless a day later. Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second and doubled it two innings later, before a two-error outburst by Buck Showalter's lifeless club pushed the lead to 8-0 heading into the sixth inning.

Edwin Encarnacion continued the offensive assault in the seventh inning, blasting his 37th home run of the season - a two-run shot off Orioles reliever Steve Johnson. Jose Bautista and Justin Smoak added to the onslaught with home runs of their own in the ninth.

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The lead was more than enough for Stroman, who mowed through the Orioles' lineup with relative ease, allowing one run off five hits while striking out eight. His only blemish was a solo home run to Steve Pearce that snapped a personal streak of 15 scoreless innings.

The Blue Jays are the fifth team to win the AL East in the last six years, and the second straight team to clinch the division in Baltimore, after the Orioles did so last season.

"It's been a really long time since this city has been to the playoffs, so to do it for the city of Toronto, and to do it with this group of guys, it's been a dream come true," Stroman said.