cuellar had a great pitching season in , finishing with a win-loss record of 22–10 and a 3.11 era, but with just 106 strikeouts. cuellar pitched 20 complete games, including five shutouts, earning a sixth-place finish in the cy young award voting that year. the orioles won the eastern division once again, and they faced off again in the 1974 american league championship series against the athletics, who were in the midst of establishing a dynasty of their own, winning the fourth of five western division crowns in a row, and winning the world series three years in a row.