Free For All #20

The Orioles clinched the American League East. The Blue Jays beat the Yankees and moved a big step closer to the second AL Wild Card. The Mariners staved off elimination by coming from behind to beat the Rangers with 2 runs of Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the 9th.

The Diamondbacks lost and now face the Astros for 3. The Cubs lost, again, to the Braves, although in less heart-breaking fashion. And the Marlins? Well, the Marlins are stuck in a rain-soaked limbo with a 2-1 lead over the Mets in the 9th inning at Citi Field.

Phew. Take a breath. And let’s dig in.

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Orioles are AL East Division Champions

This season, the Baltimore Orioles embodied the old baseball adage “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” The Tampa Bay Rays began the season like they were shot out of cannon: 13-0 to start; 23-6 by the end of April; 40-18 at the end of May; and 57-28 at the end of June.

The Orioles weren’t deterred. They built a solid record of their own and waited for the Rays to stumble. On July 1, the Orioles were 6.5games behind the Rays, at 48-33. Then the Rays went lost 13 out of their 17 games in July. By July 22, the Orioles were in first place in the AL East and never looked back.

Baltimore’s won 100 games, more than any other team in the majors aside from the Braves. But you won’t find gaudy offensive stats up and down the Orioles’ lineup, like you do with the Braves. Rookie (and likely AL Rookie of the Year) Gunnar Henderson is the only Orioles player in FanGraphs’ Top 30 in oWAR (Offense War) across MLB as a whole. The team slash is .257/.323/.426 with a 107 wRC+—meaning that the Orioles offense has been 7% better than league average.

The Orioles make up for a slightly better than average offense with very good pitching, particularly out of the bullpen. Since the All-Star break, Baltimore’s pitchers have posted the second-lowest ERA in the AL, behind only the Blue Jays. Kyle Bradish, in only his second big league season, has established himself as the ace of the staff with a 2.86 ERA. Closer Felix Bautista was the most dominant reliever in the league before he suffered a small UCL tear in his throwing elbow. But Yannier Cano, Danny Coulombe, and Cíonel Peréz have stepped up in Bautista’s absence.

The Orioles are well balanced and do the little things well. And they are clutch—getting the big hits and making the big pitches when the game is on the line. That’s how the team is 30-16 in 1-run games and 11-6 in extra inning games.

That’s a recipe for postseason success.

The NL Wild Card still undecided

Here’s where things stand as of Friday morning.

Oh Cubs.

Another sloppy game against a relentless Braves’ offense. Chicago tried to stage a late-game comeback but it fell short. And now the Cubs have fallen out of the 3rd Wild Card spot.

For a while, it looked like the Mets were going to do the Cubs a big favor. New York was hosting the Marlins Thursday night. The teams traded zeros in a tight, tense pitcher’s duel between the Marlins’ Jesús Luzardo and the Mets’ David Peterson. The Mets’ took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 8th on a Brett Baty single, a Tim Locastro sacrifice bunt, and a clutch RBI single by Rafael Ortega.

But the Marlins roared back, scoring 2 in the top of the 9th off Mets reliever Anthony Kay. Why was Anthony Kay pitching? Because the Mets don’t have a real closer. They traded their closer, David Robertson, to the Marlins in August. Adam Ottavino had pitched Wednesday night and taken the loss against the Marlins.

The Marlins were still batting and had 2 on with 2 out when heavy rain started to pour down at Citi Field. The umpires called for the tarp and halted the game. The teams waited. And waited. The rain kept coming. It got heavier. It stopped. It started again. Finally, at 12:52 am Friday morning, MLB officials suspended the game.

If the outcome of the game will affect which teams grab a Wild Card spot or the rankings of the Wild Card teams, the Mets and Marlins will meet at Citi Field on Monday afternoon at 1:10 pm to complete the game.

Pure insanity.

The Marlins can avoid that fate if they win at least 2 of their games this weekend against the Pirates at PNC Park.

Same for the Diamondbacks. If they take 2 out of 3 from the Astros, Arizona will punch its ticket to the postseason as the second Wild card.

Right now, those are big IFs.

AL West and AL Wild Card still undecided

Last night, the Texas Rangers were 1 out of away from punching their ticket to October baseball. The Rangers led the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning at T-Mobile Field in Seattle. Manager Bruce Bochy sent Aroldis Chapman to the mound to get the last 3 outs. Single. Single. Wild pitch. Walk.

With the bases loaded, Bochy summoned Jonathan Hernandez to take over for Chapman. Shallow fly ball. Out. Pop up in foul territory. Out. With a 1-1 count, J.P. Crawford sliced a liner down the left field line and the Mariners won 3-2. Mania in Seattle.

J.P. Crawford’s been Seattle’s offensive hero all season. He certainly was Thursday night.

The Rangers bullpen has been a tire fire all season. It certainly was in the 9th inning Thursday night.

As of Friday morning, the AL West standings and the AL Wild Card race look like this:

Toronto holds the tiebreaker over Houston.

Texas holds the tiebreaker over Seattle and Toronto.

Houston holds the tiebreaker over Texas.

Seattle holds the tiebreaker over Houston.

My brain just exploded.

Hold on tight, friends. It’s going to a wild ride.

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