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[Down the stretch is a daily Orioles Insider blog that will set up the coming day for the O's and their American League competition as the push for the postseason continues.]
About last night
O's refuse to let Boston play spoiler in 9-1 win
Andino downplays anniversary of his 'Curse' on Sox
Reimold visits clubhouse, gives update on recovery
Orioles break the 2 million fan threshold
Flaherty plays a role in bashing his childhood team
Brooks Robinson excited for his sculpture ceremony
Friday's full scoreboard
AL East Standings
NYY 91-66 --
BAL 90-67 1
TB 86-71 5
AL Wild-Card Standings
BAL 90-67 --
OAK 89-68 --
LAA 87-70 2
TB 86-71 3
Today's game
Red Sox at Orioles, 7:05 p.m.
LHP Felix Doubront (11-9, 4.91 ERA) vs. RHP Steve Johnson (4-0, 1.62 ERA)
Key matchup
Doubront has pitched well against the Orioles, and he allowed just one run in seven innings in their meeting Sunday. Chris Davis has the best numbers against him, going 2-for-5 with a double this season (3-for-8 over their careers).
Other games that matter
Yankees (Pettitte) at Blue Jays (Romero), 1:07 p.m.
Rays (Moore) at White Sox (Sale), 4:05 p.m.
Tigers (Verlander) at Twins (Walters), 4:05 p.m.
Mariners (Vargas) at Athletics (Straily), 4:05 p.m.
Angels (Santana) at Rangers (Holland), 4:05 p.m.
Thought of the day
OK, we've reached the point where we can start talking about the Orioles' clinching scenarios without making your head explode (too much).
With the help of the great mathematician Dan Connolly, here's what we've got:
-- In the simplest scenario, if the Orioles win three of their final five games, they're in the postseason for the first time since 1997.
But you'd like to see them pop the bubbly at home, so here are two scenarios in which they could clinch Sunday at Camden Yards.
-- If the Orioles win their next two games against Boston, and the Angels lose one of their next two against Texas, the Orioles will clinch a postseason berth.
-- The Orioles can also clinch on Sunday if they split the next two games, the Rays split their next two against Chicago and the Angels lose their next two.
Got that?
There is still, of course, a very realistic chance of the Orioles winning the division, and there's still the matter of sorting out homefield advanatage in the wild-card playoff.
But those are your bare-bones clinching scenarios for now. That should be enough to chew on until the next round of games clears up the picture a little more.
Also, you'll note that the White Sox have dropped off the wild-card standings above. If they don't catch the Tigers and win the AL Central (they're one game back), then they're out.
And finally, there's this: The Orioles are still within shouting distance to earn homefield advantage throughout the entire American League playoffs. With five games to play, they're just two behind the Rangers for the best record in the AL.
Baltimore Orioles Insider
Inside the enemy clubhouses
After Friday's loss, Rays feel like they've got to win them all
Russell Martin gives a look at the dirtiest part of a catcher's job
A Texas rainout would complicate the Angels' rotation
Coco Crisp makes a triumphant return for Oakland
Tweet of the night
Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon): I thought we had one mulligan left and we just used it. Now we definitely have to do our best Minnesota Fats imitation.
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