Blue Jays host slugging Orioles in Tuesday's AL wild-card game

In a tightly contested season that saw Baltimore and Toronto tie in wins, finish first and third in the American League in home runs and battle in several other statistical categories, only one will emerge the victor Tuesday night and remain in the major league post-season.

The Orioles, who took last week's three-game series at the Rogers Centre, return for a winner-take-all, AL wild-card game at 8:08 p.m. ET. The winning team will open a best-of-five series Thursday against the hometown Texas Rangers, who topped the AL with a 95-67 record.

• Blue Jays' Stroman gets wild-card start vs. Tillman
• MATCHUP: Baltimore at Toronto, Tuesday at 8:08 p.m. ET
• Blue Jays earn home field for wild-card playoff

Baltimore and Toronto went 89-73, but the Blue Jays were awarded the top wild-card spot by virtue of a 10-9 edge in head-to-head play.

They went 46-35 at home, including 5-5 in their past 10, but they would take a do-or-die contest before a raucous crowd of nearly 50,000 any day against an Orioles outfit that was 39-42 on the road this season.

"That place is going to be nuts," said Toronto relief pitcher Brett Cecil to reporters after Sunday's 2-1 victory at Boston that secured the home date. "It sucks it's only one game, but we're ready for it. The city is ready for it."

Baltimore capped a 4-2 road trip to end the season with a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday, but is 4-6 in Toronto this season and a woeful 86-136 at the Rogers Centre since it opened in 1989.

"You look up 'grind' in the dictionary, you should have the 2016 Orioles there, because these guys never gave in," said manager Buck Showalter, whose squad led the majors in homers with 253.

Baltimore certainly didn't give in after falling 5-1 in the series opener in Toronto on Sept. 27, riding strong starts by Chris Tillman (5-2/3 innings, one earned run) and Ubaldo Jimenez (6-2/3 shutout innings, five strikeouts) to win the next two.

Tillmann will start Tuesday against Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman, who had a 0-5 record and 3.41 earned-run average in September.

3 keys to victory

BALTIMORE

Starting pitching: Orioles starters were 13th of 15 teams in the AL this season in earned-run average at 4.72. While they have been better of late, any of Tillman, Jimenez and Kevin Gausman — Sunday's winner at New York — have had their struggles at times this season against Toronto.

Be tied or leading after eight innings: An Orioles bullpen that topped the AL in ERA at 3.40 has been virtually unhittable in the ninth inning, thanks to Mr. Perfect, Zach Britton. The left-hander converted every one of his 47 save chances, including No. 47 at Toronto last Thursday with a two-strikeout inning. He allowed four earned runs on the season but none after Aug. 24.

Hitting home runs: The Orioles, like the Blue Jays, are built for the three-run homer. Looking down and out last Wednesday, right-fielder Mark Trumbo and pinch hitter Hyun Soo Kim went deep in the eighth and ninth inning, respectively, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory. It was the lone home run in 80 plate appearances versus Toronto pitchers for Trumbo, who led the majors this season with 47.

TORONTO

Producing with runners in scoring position: The inability to bring home runners from second and third base was a big reason the Blue Jays went 11-16 in September. On the season, Toronto had a .249 batting average with runners in scoring position, the worst mark among AL playoff teams and below the league average of .260. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had the lone hit in nine such situations on Sunday.

Still, the Jays managed to pull out the victory, thanks in large part to Aaron Sanchez's seven-inning gem (two hits, one run, six strikeouts).

Consistency from bullpen:  Brett Cecil, Joe Biagini and closer Roberto Osuna stood out in Sunday's win with a combined two shutout innings but setup man Jason Grilli was shaky in the seventh the previous night, only to be bailed out by Osuna, who balked in the tying run before Toronto's offence scored in the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory. The loss of Joaquin Benoit (torn calf) until at least the AL Championship Series has already been felt.

Grab an early lead: You would think an offence led by Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin would score early and often on a regular basis. But the bats have been inconsistent all season and only six times in the last 10 games has Toronto scored at least a run in the first four innings. Here are the September averages for the aforementioned players: Encarnacion (.257), Donaldson (.232), Bautista (.253), Tulowitzki (.267) and Martin (.148).