On Tuesday night, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-2 to clinch their first AL East title since 1997. The game aired on MASN, and drew an incredible 11.6 rating in the Baltimore market, the highest-ever for an O’s game on the network.
Keep in mind, MASN has been operational for nine years. Also consider that the Orioles are averaging a 5.9 rating this year, and that 11.6 rating nearly doubled that average. The final inning of the game drew a 18.5 rating from 10 to 10:15 PM, which is roughly 293,000 viewers.
The Washington Nationals also clinched on Tuesday night, and like the Orioles, their game also aired on MASN. Washington’s clincher drew a 3.8 rating in DC, and their best quarter hour was a 4.6, good for approximately 176,000 viewers in the DC market. Considering the amount of transplants in DC, that’s a very impressive number.
This will be the second time ever that both of the Beltway teams will be in the Postseason in the same year, following the 2012 season. With both Beltway teams, and possibly both Bay Area and LA area teams making the playoffs, MLB is looking like they’re going to be in a fantastic position this October, even without getting the Yankees and Red Sox involved at all.
