The Orioles try to avoid a sweep as they send Wei-Yin Chen against Chris Archer and the Rays. This video pretty much describes the Orioles position in the AL Wild Card race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv25TQibN8g

If the Rays win, the Orioles could still tie Tampa Bay by the end of the season, but that would likely mean the Rays would not be the wild card.

Archer holds a 4.12 ERA in September despite three walks and 19 K in 19 2/3 innings.

The Reds and Pirates need to keep winning, and both face teams with losing records today. The Mets send Aaron Harang against Johnny Cueto in Cincinnati. Harang still show great control, but he gives up a ton of home runs. Pitching in his old home park won’t help that. Cueto will try to stretch himself some more after five shutout innings in his return from the disabled list.

The Pirates visit the Cubs with Charlie Morton taking on Jeff Samardzija. Morton had trouble with the Cubs this season, giving up three home runs in 11 innings. Jeff owns a good 3.33 ERA against the Pirates, but in typical Cubs fashion, lack of support turned that into a 1-3 record.

The Rangers also need to keep winning, and get to host the Astros as Jordan Lyles takes on Derek Holland. It seems the pitching matchup doesn’t matter much, as the Rangers are 14-2 against Houston this season. We’ll see if the cross state rivals can play spoilers.

Finally, the game between Washington and St. Louis is interesting, both for the pitching matchup and for the playoff implications. The Nationals can’t catch the Cardinals, so there is no worry there. St. Louis would like to clinch the division, however. Washington still clings to the hope that either the Pirates or the Reds suffer a collapse. So both teams should go at this as if it were a playoff game. Combine that with St. Louis beating Washington in the 2012 NLDS, and this could be quite lively.

Tanner Roark faces Adam Wainwright in game one. Roark finishes up a marvelous rookie year in which he is undefeated with a 1.08 ERA. He has not allowed a home run in 41 2/3 innings. Wainwright comes into the games with 34 walks and 209 K, a 6:1 ratio. He pitched 8 1/3 shutout innings against the Nationals in his only appearance against them this season.

Enjoy!