Who says the second wild card in baseball has taken the drama out of things?
With September now upon us, it seems the entire American League is about to embark on a chase for the league's five playoff spots, with division races and the pursuit of the two additional postseason berths as crowded as ever. The days of pennant races are back again.
The Orioles enter the season's final month with a tenuous hold on a playoff spot, falling into a tie for the second wild card with their loss to the Toronto Blue Jays entering Thursday's day off. They seem to be the only AL playoff hopeful trending in the wrong direction, but just as they've deflected negativity all year, they plan to continue to do so now.
"We've got a month of baseball left," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We knew August was going to be tough. We did some good things, but not as many as we would have liked. We have an opportunity. There's a lot of baseball to be played. Anybody that sells us short doesn't get the essence of our players. That's fine. They've been doing that all year to us."
Here's a breakdown of the American League playoff picture, including each team's standing, playoff percentages and the most important thing about their stretch run.
