O's better play recently at Rogers Centre could be big in wild card game

The prospect of playing a winner-take-all wild card game at Rogers Centre at one time might have been a dicey one for both the Orioles and their fans.

But while the Orioles had a losing record in that ballpark this year - going 4-6 - the Orioles just won a series last week in Toronto and they are 3-1 in their last four games there allowing two, five, two and zero runs. That is nine runs over the last four games.

The wild card game there tomorrow might turn out to be a pitching rematch of last Thursday's game when Ubaldo Jimenez outpitched Toronto's Marcus Stroman and the Orioles beat the Blue Jays 4-0 to pull even in the wild card race. Jimenez gave up a hit to the first batter he faced and none after that over 6 2/3 brilliant innings. O's pitchers gave up just seven runs (five earned) in that series last week, pitching to an ERA of 1.73.

As for Jimenez, if he gets the call to start tomorrow it would be another step in his incredible turnaround this year. Banished to the bullpen two times this season, he finished the regular season going 3-2 with a 2.45 ERA his last seven starts. He recorded six quality starts in that stretch and ended the season throwing 17 straight innings without allowing an earned run.

Before anyone rules out Chris Tillman making this start, keep in mind Tillman pitched twice this season at Rogers Centre. The Orioles won both games and Tillman allowed four runs (three earned) over 11 1/3 innings for an ERA of 2.38.

After Jimenez pitched so well last Thursday, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said this: "How do you describe that outing? That's seven in a row for him now. We were trying to decide how we wanted to go with pitching, the deciding factor was going with the hot hand, regardless of how someone has pitched in a ballpark. That kind of overrides that."

If he goes with the hot hand again tomorrow that might mean Jimenez would get the start again at Rogers Centre.

Stroman gave up four runs and nine hits over seven innings last Thursday against the Orioles. He is 2-3 with a 5.27 ERA in seven career games versus Baltimore. The Blue Jays two best starters, J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez, pitched the last two days at Boston, making them unavailable to make Tuesday's start.

But to me, the Orioles winning that series last week and pitching so well at Rogers Centre was big for the team's psyche in that ballpark. It is one tough place to play. Maybe the Orioles have turned a corner in their play at the stadium

I interviewed Mark Trumbo and Adam Jones in Toronto last week before the start of that series for this story. Both said opponent players get an earful from the stands at Rogers Centre.

"You know, at least as a defender, you will hear a fair amount of taunts," Trumbo said. "That is just part of the deal here. It is going to be extremely loud. The energy is always as much as any you'll see in baseball and it's a nice challenge."

The Orioles this year at Rogers Centre:
* June 9-12 - Went 1-3 allowing 30 runs (7.5 per game).
* July 29-31 - Went 1-2 allowing 17 runs (5.7 per game).
* Sept. 27-29 - Went 2-1 allowing seven runs (2.3 per game).

The Orioles go into the postseason playing well. They went 7-2 in their last nine games and 17-12 in their last 29.

Their starting pitchers really stepped up late in the year. Over that 7-2 run to end the regular season, O's starters worked to an ERA of 2.35. The rotation ERA was 3.69 the last 32 games. The bullpen ERA was 1.14 the last 19 games.

A few hitters heated up late in the year. Jonathan Schoop went 8-for-18 (.444) over his last five games. Trumbo went 15-for-36 (.417) over his last nine games. Matt Wieters hit a pair of two-run homers yesterday and is batting .355 (11-for-31) his last eight games. J.J. Hardy is batting .329 his last 22 games.

The Orioles finished the season with 253 homers, four off the team record. But that total is the fifth-most in major league history.

264 - Seattle (1997)

260 - Texas (2005)

257 - Orioles (1996) and Toronto (2010)

253 - Orioles (2016)