The Baltimore Orioles have punched a ticket into the postseason, but their work is hardly done. They are currently tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East entering the final series of regular season. The Orioles will play the Rays in Tampa Bay, while the Yankees will face the Red Sox at home. With the new playoff format, there is a clear advantage in winning the division over winning the wild card, since the 2 wild card teams have to play a wild card game before getting into the “real” postseason. As a result, the Orioles should treat the last 3 games of the regular season as importantly as they have the first 159 games. The Orioles have set their starting pitchers for the first two games of the series, Wei-Yin Chen for the first and Miguel Gonzalez for the second. The question remains: Who should the Orioles start on Wednesday, Thursday (if they are tied with Yankees for the lead in AL East) and Friday (if they lose the division and play the Oakland Athletics in the wild card game)?
