Blue Jays host Orioles looking to maintain AL wild card lead

It's playoff time.

Well, not exactly.

But this week's three-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and visiting Baltimore Orioles, starting Tuesday at 7:07 p.m. ET, will have a playoff feel, given its importance to the American League wild-card race.

The Blue Jays hold a one-game lead over Baltimore, which is coming off a three-game sweep of Arizona and has a 35-40 road record this season. Detroit and Seattle are three games back of Toronto, meaning a series win or sweep would put the Jays in good position to maintain top spot entering their final series of the season at Boston this weekend.

Should Toronto and Baltimore, which closes the season at Yankee Stadium, finish the weekend tied, the top wild card spot would be determined by the season series — which the Jays lead 9-7 entering Tuesday's action. That team would host the other in a one-game playoff on Oct. 4.

Toronto is fresh off a series victory over the New York Yankees, who avoided a four-game sweep with a 7-5 win Monday night. Trailing 3-2 entering the ninth, they homered twice off Jason Grilli, who later gave way to Danny Barnes, and scored five times as closer Roberto Osuna was unavailable after pitching each of the previous two days.

The bullpen news wasn't any better after the game when Joaquin Benoit was seen leaving the Rogers Centre on crutches after limping off the field following the second of two dugout-clearing incidents.

Shut-down 'pen

A fixture in the seventh inning, Benoit has allowed a single run in 23 2/3 innings since joining the Jays in a July 26 trade with Seattle.

Baltimore's bullpen, meantime, ranks second to the Central Division-winning Cleveland Indians in the AL with a 3.42 earned-run average, including a 1.56 mark in September. Closer Zach Britton leads with a 0.56 ERA and is a perfect 46-for-46 in save chances while the group posted a 0.81 ERA over the team's just-completed 11-game home stand.

Toronto, which has won each of its past two series after taking the opening game, would be wise to continue that trend.

Baltimore's Kevin Gausman pronounced himself ready for Tuesday's contest after experiencing some soreness in his rib cage area last week and having his Sunday start pushed back. Despite a solid 3.57 ERA this season, he surrendered three homers in the first inning of an eventual Orioles loss during their last visit to Toronto in late July.

Rogers Centre struggles

Chris Tillman, Wednesday night's scheduled starter, had shoulder bursitis in August, though that hasn't been a concern of late. But the right-hander has failed to reach the sixth inning in each of his last two starts and his ERA is 4.75 in 10 post-all-star break outings.

Ubaldo Jimenez, Wade Miley and Yovani Gallardo are available for Thursday's series finale at 7:07 p.m. but have combined with Gausman and Tillman to allow 22 earned runs in 25 2/3 innings at Toronto this season.

The Blue Jays will start Aaron Sanchez, Francisco Liriano and Marcus Stroman in the series.

Sanchez is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts this season versus Baltimore, Liriano has tossed three straight quality starts, including a three-hit shutout against New York in his last start, while Stroman has dropped four consecutive starts but is fresh off a seven-inning, one-hit gem against the Yankees.

This series also features two potent offences with Baltimore and Toronto 1-2 in the AL in home runs at 245 and 217, respectively. But each has struggled for stretches this month, with the Orioles hitting at a .229 clip and the Blue Jays ranking 23rd in the major leagues with a .249 batting average and losing each of their past 14 games in which they have not gone deep.