NEW YORK—The Orioles enter Thursday night’s game against the Yankees needing a win to secure home-field advantage in the wild-card round.
A win would also cut their deficit in the American League East to three games, and the Orioles would need to sweep their three-game series at Minnesota this weekend while needing the Pittsburgh Pirates to win three straight against the Yankees.
If that unlikely scenario occurs, the Orioles finish in a tie with the Yankees for the AL East title and would be awarded the championship and the automatic trip to the Division Series because they beat the Yankees in the season series.
On Thursday afternoon, the Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2, and Kansas City defeated Washington, 7-4. The Tigers and Royals are tied for the second wild-card spot, so the Orioles don’t know who they’ll face next Tuesday in the best-of-3 wild-card series.
“I was closely watching it this afternoon,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I am watching, yes.”
Had Detroit lost, the Orioles would have clinched home-field advantage.
“You’re watching, but you also know you need to do things ourselves,” Hyde said. “It’s all in our hands. It’s up to us. We’ve played really well so far this series and hope they can continue.”
For the postseason, the Orioles will be limited to 26 players, two fewer than the 28 they currently have. Hyde and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias have begun discussing possible rosters. Things might change depending on who they’ll play.
“Some different scenarios,” Hyde said. “We’ve discussed scenarios, but we’re not setting anything in stone until we know exactly who we’re playing and where we’re playing.”
Note: Cade Povich will start on Friday night against the Twins. The Orioles haven’t decided on starters for Saturday or Sunday. Perhaps a pitcher not currently on the roster will be brought up from Triple-A Norfolk to start on Sunday.