BBC’s coverage of the business end of the Major League Baseball season continues this weekend with a crucial game in the race for the play-offs.
With just one week of the regular season remaining, the Detroit Tigers visit the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game series that ends on Sunday.
Both teams are part of a desperate scramble in the American League to earn a wildcard spot and keep their championship hopes alive.
You can watch all Sunday’s action unfold on BBC iPlayer, plus the BBC Sport website and app, from 18:30 BST, with coverage beginning on the Red Button at 19:30.
Motor City v Charm City
Detroit is mainly famous for two things – music and cars. Ford Motor Company was founded in the Michigan city in 1903, sparking a boom in car production that saw Detroit become known as ‘Motor City’.
That title later inspired the name ‘Motown’, the record label founded in Detroit in 1959.
Baltimore is about 520 miles away on America’s east coast and was also one of America’s industrial heartlands. But, just like Detroit, the Maryland city then suffered economic and social decline, providing the basis for the TV show The Wire.
The Detroit Tigers have won the World Series four times, most recently in 2012, while the Baltimore Orioles have won three championships, with their last coming in 1983.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful baseball stadiums in America and reflects Baltimore’s nickname of ‘Charm City’.
Stats and standings
MLB’s six division winners are guaranteed a place in the post-season while six teams earn wildcard spots.
The Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers occupy two of the three spots for the American League, but the Orioles are coming under increasing pressure having lost eight of their last 11 games, giving them a 85-68 record.
The Tigers are finishing the season strongly though, winning nine of their last 11 to improve to 80-73 and close the gap on the Orioles, Kansas City Royals (82-71) and Minnesota Twins (80-73).
Only Aaron Judge (53) and Shohei Ohtani (51) have hit more home runs this season than Baltimore’s Anthony Santander (42) while team-mate Gunnar Henderson, who also played in this year’s All-Star Game, is seventh on the list (37).
Riley Greene leads the Tigers for homers (24), scoring two in a 4-2 win over the Orioles when the teams met in Detroit last Sunday. Pitcher Tarik Skubal is Detroit’s other All Star and is second in the league for both Earned Run Average (2.48) and Strikeouts (221).
Head-to-head record
Sunday’s game will be the last in a three-match series beginning on Friday and comes just a week after the Tigers and Orioles had a similar match-up in Detroit.
Those were their only previous meetings this season and the Tigers edged the series 2-1.
Overall, the two teams have met 2,052 times, with the Tigers winning 1,075 and the Orioles 977.
They have met just once in the post-season, in the second round of the 2014 play-offs, with the Orioles winning 3-0.
How to watch MLB on the BBC
Sunday’s game will be shown live on the BBC from 18:30 BST. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer, plus the BBC Sport website and app, with coverage beginning on the Red Button from 19:30.
It is the second of five live MLB broadcasts on BBC Sport during September and October, covering the end of the regular season and the start of the play-offs.
The play-offs are set to begin on 1 October, with three rounds played to decide who meets in the World Series (scheduled to start on 25 October).
BBC’s upcoming MLB schedule:
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Sunday, 29 September (20:00): Coverage of the final day of the MLB regular season, featuring 15 simultaneous games
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Tuesday, 1 October (time TBC): Two back-to-back Wildcard Series games
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Saturday, 5 October (time TBC): Two back-to-back Division Series games
Source Agencies
