Orioles have used a special blend of talent and chemistry to close in on AL East crown

On June 6, the Orioles were 6 1/2 games out of first place. With last night's win they lead second-place Toronto by 12 1/2 games and are within one win of the American League East title for the first time since 1997. It is clear that the Orioles are the class of the division and a very talented team. But they are not winning on talent alone. If you ask just about any player in the O's clubhouse what makes this team so good it probably won't take long before they talk about team chemistry. The O's are a together, close, focused group. "It's everything," Nelson Cruz said of the club's strong chemistry. "Personality and chemistry. One through, right now 30, we are different. But how we get along, even though we are different, it shows we are family. How we love each other and take care of each other speaks a lot about the team." Adam Jones added his take. "We all get along with each other," he said. "I'm not saying that we all go out to dinner every single night, but when we come into this clubhouse as one unit, we agree with each other. "We are a cohesive unit. There is a strong bond with these 25 guys and now there are upwards of 40 guys in this clubhouse. We have a bond that we will not let the outside world break." Cruz said he was confident in the 2014 Orioles right from the start. "I was confident in my teammates and the group that we have," Cruz said. "I know the personality we have as a group and that we had what it takes to get this far. We are about to complete our main goal to get to the playoffs and at the end it will determine how much we want to win everything. We have the attitude and personality here to go that far. "The main focus for us was not just the big picture, but to go out every day and battle. It didn't matter the situation in the game or how good the other team was. We showed a lot of maturity. Hopefully we keep that mentality all the way to the end." Now the O's are about to get the chance to celebrate in front of their home fans. "If we have the chance to do that, it will be nice to give that joy to these fans," Cruz said. "They haven't seen that at home in probably a long time. It would be nice to give them what they are hoping for." Cruz said the Orioles have shown the ability to overcome adversity and injuries and they just kept winning. "If we want to be a championship team it has to come from everybody," he said. "Not just one player. You get players from other teams, from the minors and everyone has been doing their job. It is definitely a special team and we are special as a group." Jones said the Orioles have been a very focused team all year, but they also don't forget to have some fun along the way. "Winning is fun. You win, that's fun," he said. "The winning helps and crowds increasing over the last couple of years have helped. We have been able to share smiles with our fans and that's important."