After 22 years, the Toronto Blue Jays are once again the kings of the American League East.

With a 15-2 blowout of the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards on Wednesday, the Jays clinched its first division crown since the 1993 season and the sixth in franchise history.

And it's been a long wait for Blue Jays fans.

The last time Toronto won the division title Kim Campbell was the Prime Minister of Canada, "Jurassic Park" was the top-grossing movie at the box offices and Mariah Carey was sitting atop Billboard Hot 100 chart with the track "Dreamlover."

The Jays' closing pitcher, flamethrower Roberto Osuna, was born in 1995.

During Wednesday's game, Marcus Stroman pitched eight innings, struck out eight batters and allowed just five hits and two walks.

Catcher Russell Martin opened the scoring with a ground ball to left field that scored Edwin Encarnacion.

Shortstop Ryan Goins, who went five-for-five in the game, then singled to centre field plating Martin.

The Jays pushed the score to 4-0 in the fourth thanks to an RBI-single from outfield Ben Revere and Jose Bautista walked to plate Darwin Barney.

The game opened up even further in the fifth inning when two errors from the Orioles allowed the Jays to score another three runs.

Edwin Encarnicon hit a two-run home run, and his 37th on year, in the 7th.

Jose Bautista and Justin Smoak also hit homers in the 9th inning.

The Orioles' two runs were batted in by Steve Pearce, who hit a solo homer in 7th inning, and Steve Clevenger, whose triple to left-centre field allowed Nolan Reimold to score.

Veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins secured the final out for the Jays, by striking out Ryan Flaherty.

Players exchanged hugs and handshakes in the dugout before rushing the field, where the team huddled together, jumping up and down in celebration.

Camden Yards was filled with anxious Jays fans who made the trip down from Toronto to Baltimore to see the club clinch the division title.

They chanted "MVP" for all of third basemen Josh Donaldson's at-bats, and sang the praises of general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who was watching from the first row above the Blue Jays' dugout, with cheers of "Thank you, Alex."

Stroman told reporters after their game that their support was "amazing."

"It felt like a home game," said Stroman.

Earlier this month, the Jays clinched its first playoffs appearance in 21 consecutive seasons, by securing at least a wild-card spot.

Story-book finish

It has been a story-book finish to the year for the club, which trailed the New York Yankees by eight games for the AL East lead on July 28. The Jays sported a record of 50-51. Since then they've gone 42-14.

That date marked the first of two star-studded acquisitions that lit a fire under the Blue Jays.

Anthopoulos acquired hard-hitting shortstop Troy Tulowitzki from the Colorado Rockies.

Two days later, brought in hired-gun and ace pitcher David Price from the Detroit Tigers.

And the Jays haven't looked back since.

The club leapfrogged the Yankees, Orioles and Boston Red Sox en route to capturing the division crown.

The Jays have relied heavily on their MLB-leading offence to carry them for most of the season.

Donaldson, who was acquired in an off-season trade with the Oakland Athletics, has put together arguably the strongest case for MVP in the American League.

Donaldson, along with fellow Blue Jay sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, have combined for 118 home runs, one shy of a club record set by Jose Canseco, Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green in the 1998 season.

But the team's starting pitching has also played a key role in the club's turnaround.

Since the All-star break the Blue Jays starters have put up a record of 36-10, the best in baseball.

Incoming ace, David Price, has put together a Cy Young-calibre season, going 9-1 since joining the team and 18-5, with a 2.45 earned-run average, on the season.

A 'dream come true'

But perhaps the biggest story of the season has been Stroman's return from a torn ACL in spring training.

The 24-year-old has injected flash and excitement into the starting rotation.

Stroman has gone 4-0, with a 1.67 ERA, since returning from the disabled list.

After the game, Stroman told reporters that being on the mound Wednesday was a "dream come true."

"I'm blessed and lucky to be in this position," said Stroman.

"It's almost like a story-book ending … how it all played out."

The fact that the division-clinching win came at Camden Yards likely it makes it that much sweeter for the Jays.

Last year, the Orioles secured the division crown on Sept. 16 against the Jays in Baltimore.

The two clubs have also had numerous heated exchanges over the past few seasons.

There was 30 minutes before the second game of the double-header began, leaving little time to pop bottles of champagne and smoke victory cigars.

Price tweeted a photo of the bubbly being prepared, with the caption "one more game first."

In the second leg of the double-header, manager John Gibbons opted to give most the starters the rest of the night off.

And it showed, the Orioles downed the Jays 8-1. But the loss didn't damper the team's joy.

As soon as it was over, the players rushed to the visiting dressing room, which was covered in plastic for the party.

The elated players, many wearing ski goggles, then popped champagne and celebrated the division title.

By clinching, the Blue Jays secured home-field advantage in the ALDS.

With a record of 92-66, the club is also within striking distance of the American League pennant, which would guarantee home-field advantage until the World Series.

"I think home field for us with the environment that we have now at that stadium ... to have a dome, playing conditions, all that, I think it's a big advantage," Anthopoulos told The Canadian Press.

"We'd love to get it."

With files from The Canadian Press