MINNEAPOLIS—Corbin Burnes will start Game 1 of the wild-card series on Tuesday. The Orioles don’t know if they’re going to play the Detroit Tigers or Kansas City Royals in the best-of-three series.
Detroit lost to the Chicago White Sox, 4-0, on Saturday afternoon, leaving the Tigers ½ game ahead of Kansas City, which plays at Atlanta on Saturday night.
Burnes, who’s 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA, had a terrific September with a 1.20 ERA in five starts
Zach Eflin is in line to start Game 2 of the wild-card series, but manager Brandon Hyde is only announcing Game 1. If there is a Game 3, Dean Kremer is expected to get the start.
Hyde and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias are discussing roster options for the wild-card series. Hyde didn’t rule out a roster of 12 pitchers and 14 position players.
“I think it’s all possible,” Hyde said. “We’ll have a roster meeting when we get back in town, and I think that everything’s on the table. We don’t know who we’re playing yet, so a lot of things to factor into that.”
On Saturday night, Matt Bowman will start against the Twins with Tucker Davidson, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday, ready to throw the bulk of the game. Davidson will be followed by a couple of short-inning relievers, Hyde said.
“Guys who throw tonight probably won’t throw tomorrow,” he said. “We want to make sure everybody’s as fresh as possible for Tuesday. We need everybody available for at least two of those games. We’ve got to see how the game goes and see if guys need to throw today or tomorrow.”
Davidson, who spent the entire season at Triple-A Norfolk, was at home at Atlanta when he got the call to join the team.
“I was ready. Any week it could happen,” Davidson said. “I had a really good June, and I was like: ‘OK, this might happen,’ and we got some guys back from injuries.
“I understand the business side of all this, but continue to go one about my business. Glad to be here. Took a little longer than I thought, but I made it.”
Gunnar Henderson, who has played in all but two games, isn’t in the starting lineup. Nor are Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins or Jordan Westburg. Jackson Holliday will start for the first time at shortstop. Ramón Urias will start at second base.
“It’s nice to get Gunnar off his feet,” Hyde said. “I’d like to give some at-bats to [Ryan Mountcastle] and Urías. Westy needs a little bit of a break. It’s nice to get him an off day today. Gunnar definitely deserves an off day today. Ced’s been playing a lot, also…Everybody’s going to play here the next two days.
Albert Suárez will start on Sunday against the Twins in the last regular-season game. Hyde didn’t indicate how long he might pitch.