The term “lucky” has never sit well with many (including myself) when describing the 2012 Baltimore Orioles. It sure seems like a lazy way to explain the team’s success, though that’s how they’ve been labeled by many after posting a historic 29-9 record in one run games.

Last season the O’s won just 20 of their 51 games decided by a single run, which some used as another indicator of how flukey the previous year had actually been — but don’t tell Buck Showalter that. Here’s what the O’s skipper had to say about winning close games when answering a question about the Birds 5-4 win over the Reds on Tuesday:

"We created that one run game last night. So every night is different. Someone was trying to tell me that last year was such a true indicator -- I guess we weren't as good last year, but we're still good, I don't know. It's certainly not the managing, I can tell you that. It's the players. We'd rather a lot of them be two or three run games. We'd love [if] that game had been 5-0, 5-1 [and] kept Zach [Britton] and Darren [O'Day] and those guys out of the game, but we didn't and at the end of the game we got a 'W' out of it. So you do what you got to do."

It’s such a perfect response.

The Orioles still managed to win 85 games last season despite going 20-31 in one-run games. This season their 28-19 in those matchups. Lucky? Nope, just a darn good team that finds a way to win, just look at the example Buck gives.