The Orioles are on the cusp of their first American League East title since 2014 and they’ll have the opportunity to clinch the division at home.
The magic number is three, which means they could celebrate as early as Wednesday, Sept. 26.
Any combination of Orioles wins and Rays losses totaling three will clinch the division for Baltimore and also provide a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.
The Orioles also own the tiebreaker against Tampa Bay based on head-to-head matchups, winning the season series 8-5.
“I’m just excited about how our club is playing,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We’re fun to watch. The clubhouse is extremely loose and they’re having a lot of fun, so I’m looking forward to [this] week.”
Kyle Bradish will get the ball rolling as the starter in the series opener Sept. 26 against the last-place Washington Nationals, who are playing out the string. Bradish is 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA in nine appearances since Aug. 1.
Grayson Rodriguez will start the second game and it would be fitting for their top-rated pitching prospect to officially usher in a new era for the franchise with a clinching performance. Since rejoining the club on July 17, Rodriguez has performed like a top-of-the-rotation starter. He has held opponents to three earned runs or fewer in 11 consecutive starts.
The Orioles, however, will need Bradish and Rodriguez to go deep into the games against Washington because the bullpen was running on fumes prior to the off day on Sept. 25. It would be huge for the Orioles to get their first-round bye in the postseason to give some of their relievers a much-needed rest.
However, the starters have recently done their best to preserve those arms.
John Means took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a 2-1 victory against the Guardians on Sept. 23. Means was making his third start following his return from Tommy John surgery and is poised to take the ball as a starter in the playoffs.
Kyle Gibson gave the Orioles another boost the following day in the series finale in Cleveland, allowing just one run and five hits in seven-plus innings in a 5-1 victory, which earned his club a split in the four-game series.
Hyde has already moved Jack Flaherty from the starting rotation to the bullpen and so far the right-hander has embraced the role. Flaherty was forced into action as a reliever Sept. 19 against the Astros and threw two scoreless innings.
“That adrenaline rush is a lot,” Flaherty said of the transition from starting to pitching out of the bullpen. “The same thing with taking the mound for the first time whether it’s the top of the first or the bottom of the first.
“That’s a special feeling, but so is running out of the bullpen knowing that you’re in there in the later part of the game. Every game matters and those pitches matter a lot too.”
Dean Kremer could join Flaherty in the bullpen if he’s one of the odd men out of the rotation for the playoffs. Tyler Wells, who was one of the team’s best starters in the first half of the season before he was sent to the minors to battle through arm fatigue, could also play a key role as a reliever.
The biggest question mark during the final week of the season is whether All-Star closer Félix Bautista will be able to return from an elbow injury. It’s been a positive sign that he has been able to throw in the bullpen in the past week, but the Orioles have remained tight-lipped about his status moving forward.
“I think the bullpen could look potentially, a little bit different,” Hyde said about setting up for the postseason. “That’s why winning a division would be so important for these guys to give everybody some time off, and that’s what we’re kind of pushing for. We’ll see where we are health-wise at the end of the season. You could put a couple of starters down there that maybe haven’t pitched in a while. That might be helpful.”
The Orioles finish the regular season with a four-game series against the Red Sox at Camden Yards from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1.
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