O's loss opened door for Toronto and they walked through

Well, the Orioles' loss on Saturday afternoon at New York opened the door for the Toronto Blue Jays and they charged through it last night at Fenway Park.

After Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna balked in a run in the last of the eighth that tied that game 3-3, the Jays pushed one across in the ninth off Boston's closer. Craig Kimbrel issued a leadoff walk, a sac bunt, a wild pitch and sac fly as Toronto beat the Red Sox 4-3.

Now both the Orioles and Blue Jays are 88-73 and sit atop the wild card standings. But if they tie, Toronto holds the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series 10-9. So a Toronto win today at Boston (all games start at 3:05 p.m. ET) and the Blue Jays will host the wild card game. Meanwhile, an O's loss today at New York gives Detroit a chance. With wins today and Monday, they would to tie the Orioles. That would set up a tiebreaker game for the second wild card in Baltimore on Tuesday. The O's win the tiebreaker with Detroit (for home field advantage in a tiebreaker game) by taking the season series 5-2. A victory today by the Orioles will clinch a spot in the wild card game. The Seattle Mariners were eliminated from the wild card face with a loss to Oakland on Saturday night.

To host the wild card game, the Orioles today need a win and a Toronto loss. If the Orioles lost today, they still could reach the wild card game.

It all looked so good for the Orioles with a 3-0 lead heading to the last of the fifth yesterday. But they blew that lead and lost 7-3, and now they have lost control of which team can take the top wild card spot. They opened that door for the Blue Jays.

Today at Yankee Stadium, Kevin Gausman (8-12, 3.66 ERA) faces Luis Cessa (4-3, 4.18 ERA). Gausman has had a tremendous season pitching against the Yankees. He is 2-1 with an ERA of 0.80 and three scoreless starts in five outings against them. In his career, he is 5-3 with a 1.87 ERA against New York. So they've got that track record to lean on today.

The drama resumes this afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Mancini on his time on the farm: In a conversation earlier this week with Trey Mancini in Toronto, we talked about the Orioles' minor league system and their player development operation. It has taken some hits as you've heard with the Orioles ranked near the bottom of the majors in most of those organizational rankings.

But Mancini said he has had a different experience. One where he got solid instruction on the farm that led him - a player drafted in the eighth round of 2013 out of Notre Dame - to make the major leagues. He looks around and sees others he has played with in the minors, like Donnie Hart and Mychal Givens, also in the O's clubhouse.

"I have nothing but incredible things to say about the organization," Mancini told me. "The player I was, from the time I got drafted, to now, is a humungous difference. And that is mostly a testament to the people that have given me instruction in the organization and the coaching I received. It was incredible to go through."

Mancini said he learned a lot this year and some of it came when he struggled the most.

"I went through a few times where it was definitely mentally tough," he said. "I got off to a good start in (Double-A) Bowie and then got called up to (Triple-A) Norfolk and it took me some time to heat up there. I went through a time in August, too, at the end of the season, which isn't the best time to go through a slump and it was one of the worst I'd gone through. After it was all said and done, I had a good few last games.

"I was kind of thankful for that experience. I had never gone through something like before. You have to persevere though those times. Because they are going to happen, and at this level, too. You have to learn to deal with failure. For some people, it takes a few times to get used to it and break out of it."

In 17 games with Double-A Bowie and 125 at Triple-A Norfolk, Mancini hit .282/.357/.458 with 26 doubles, five triples, 20 homers and 68 RBIs.

In five games since joining the Orioles, he is 5-for-14 (.357) with three homers and five RBIs. Against left-handed pitching, he is 4-for-10 with three homers.

I asked Mancini how he grew as a hitter this season.

"I think I've done a better job of knowing what pitchers are trying to do (to get me out)," he said. "As far as, in Triple-A, moreso than any other level, I saw a lot of 2-0, 3-1 changeups and breaking balls. Pitchers know guys' tendencies and I would learn which guys I faced tended to do that more. Becoming familiar with that and what guys might do against you, that helps you a lot."