Now We Wait

Now we wait. On a night when they won a game in which the opposing starter went the distance and struck out a franchise-tying 15 hitters, on a night when their hitters had but two hits, the unbelievable Orioles beat Tampa Bay, 1-0, when Chris Davis hit his 33rd home run in the fourth inning.  In a frantic pennant race, it was the sixth consecutive game in which the Baltimore Slugger hit a home run. Oriole pitchers, including amazing starter Miguel Gonzalez, held the Rays to only two singles.  Gonzalez went 6 and a third scoreless innings, surrendering the two Tampa hits and earned his ninth win.  Then, Brian Matusz, Darren O'Day and Jim Johnson finished up, Johnson grabbing his 51st save in the process. The Orioles are 29-9 in one run games and 74-0 when leading after seven innings.  And still, the Orioles wait.  In New York, the Yankees entered the night with a one game lead over the Orioles.  But the last place Red Sox struck for two runs in the first and now, a single run in the top of the ninth to lead the Bronx Bombers, 3-1, in the ninth.  If the Sox had prevailed, the Orioles and Yankees would have entered the season's final night tied for first in the AL East.  But in the end, in extra innings, they did not prevail. Raul Ibanez knocked in the winning run for New York in the 12th, giving the Yankees the victory and a one game advantage going into tonight's final games.  In the Wild Card, the Orioles, Rangers and Athletics are tied, one game behind the Yankees.  The victory last night by the A's moved them into a tie with Texas for the AL West lead.  What all of this means is that either the Athletics or Rangers will win the West, with the runner-up in the Wild Card.  The same will be true in the AL East.  The team that prevails there will win the AL East with the runner-up in the Wild Card.  If either division ends in a tie there will be a one game playoff.  Even as I write this, Oriole Manager Buck Showalter has announced that Chris Tillman will start tonight for the Orioles.  Going into that game he is 9-2 with a 2.78 ERA in 14 games.  

Take a deep breath.  Four of the five teams that will make the playoffs have each played 161 games and they are all within one game of each other.  Three of the teams have the exact same record and one is one game better after scoring two in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.  The fifth team, the Tigers, trailed the White Sox the entire season until a week ago.  Then Chicago folded and Detroit surged in.  Of the four teams still fighting for the best record, only the Rangers are limping to the finish line.  The other three, the Yankees, Athletics and amazing Orioles, have been surging for months.  When the Orioles began their surge and made up a ten game deficit to New York, the Yanks could've folded or been content to grab a Wild Card.  To their credit, they instead joined the fight and lead by a game heading into tonight.  The Orioles, to their credit, never blinked.  They have gone toe-to-toe with the powerful and over-funded New Yorkers even though their payroll pales in comparison.