September 28 – The Baltimore Orioles aim to advance to the playoffs in October.
The Minnesota Twins wonder how August and September went wrong.
Attentions could be distracted when the two teams play their final regular-season game in Minneapolis on Saturday. The Orioles (89-71) won Friday’s series opener 7-2 and eliminated the Twins (82-78) from playoff contention.
Baltimore clinched home-field advantage in the American League wild-card round with Friday’s win. The Orioles don’t yet know which team they will face next week.
“It’s a big deal to get home via the wild card,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “We’re excited to play in front of our fans. We know there will be energy and excitement on the court and our players are really looking forward to it.”
The final two games of the regular season now have little impact, and Hyde said he’s not sure which pitcher he’ll choose to start each game. The Orioles will almost certainly rest their top starters to prepare for the first round of the playoffs.
When Hyde was asked who would start in the next couple of days, he said, “We’re still deciding on that, we’re not sure yet.”
Meanwhile, as the Twins enter a long offseason, many things remain uncertain.
Minnesota head coach Rocco Baldelli must find a way to keep his players focused over the next two games before heading home. The Twins were 70-53 on Aug. 17 but have gone 12-25 since then, allowing the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals to overtake them and clinch a wild-card spot in the playoffs.
“It’s obviously a disappointing way to end a promising season, but it’s great for us to have everything like this,” Baldelli said. “I’ve just been talking to the guys about it. It’ll always bother me. There’s no way around it.”
“But it’s not just about making a negative statement for the sake of making a negative statement. I’m going to think about it a lot and I’m going to use it to motivate myself in a lot of different ways. Because I don’t want to ever go through an event like this again.”
In a game the Twins needed to win to maintain a slim chance of reaching the playoffs, the team’s hitters allowed just two hits through the first eight innings on Friday.
Baldelli said production needs to be earned and that his team doesn’t want to let the offense take over.
“We haven’t,” he said. “If we have, we’ll prove it in the game. These may seem like harsh statements, but they’re true.”
Twins right-hander Xabby Matthews (1-3, 5.71 ERA) will make his ninth and final start of his rookie season. He is looking for his first win since Aug. 13, when he made his major league debut against the Royals.
This will be Matthews’ first game against Baltimore.
Orioles first baseman and designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn will try to keep the plate hot after going 3-for-5 with a homer in the series opener. It was his 14th long pass and the highest of his career.
“It’s one of the best swings he’s had in a long time,” Hyde said. “To be able to get down and inside and hit things a long distance, … it’s a great swing.”
——Visual-level media
