The BBC’s coverage of the end of the Major League Baseball season continues this weekend with a crucial game in the race for the playoffs.
With just one week left in the regular season, the Detroit Tigers visit the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game series that concludes Sunday.
Both teams are locked in a desperate battle in the American League for a wild-card spot and to keep their championship hopes alive.
You can watch all of Sunday’s action unfold on BBC iPlayer, as well as the BBC Sport website and app, from 6.30pm BST, with coverage starting on the red button at 7.30pm.
Motor City vs Charm City
Detroit is most famous for two things: music and cars. The Ford Motor Company was founded in the Michigan city in 1903, sparking a boom in automobile production that earned Detroit the nickname “Motor City.”
This title later inspired the name “Motown”, the record company founded in Detroit in 1959.
Baltimore is located about 520 miles away on the east coast of the United States. It was also one of the country’s industrial centers. But, like Detroit, the Maryland city suffered an economic and social decline, which gave rise to the television series The Wire.
The Detroit Tigers have won the World Series four times, most recently in 2012, while the Baltimore Orioles have won three championships, most recently in 1983.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful ballparks in America and reflects Baltimore’s nickname, “Charm City.”
Statistics and rankings
MLB’s six division winners are guaranteed a playoff spot while six teams earn wild-card spots.
The Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers occupy two of the three spots in the American League, but the Orioles are under increasing pressure after losing eight of their last 11 games, giving them an 85-68 record.
The Tigers nevertheless finished the season strongly, winning nine of their last 11 games to improve their record to 80-73 and close the gap with the Orioles, the Kansas City Royals (82-71) and the Minnesota Twins (80-73).
Only Aaron Judge (53) and Shohei Ohtani (51) have hit more home runs this season than Baltimore’s Anthony Santander (42), while teammate Gunnar Henderson, who also played in this year’s All-Star Game, is seventh on the list (37).
Riley Greene leads the Tigers in home runs (24), hitting two in a 4-2 win over the Orioles in the teams’ meeting in Detroit last Sunday. Pitcher Tarik Skubal is Detroit’s other All-Star and is second in the league in earned run average (2.48) and strikeouts (221).
Face to face review
Sunday’s game will be the last of a three-game series beginning Friday and comes just a week after the Tigers and Orioles had a similar game in Detroit.
Those were their only previous meetings this season and the Tigers won the series 2-1.
In total, the two teams have met 2,052 times, with the Tigers winning 1,075 and the Orioles winning 977.
They have only met once in the playoffs, in the second round of the 2014 playoffs, with the Orioles winning 3-0.
How to watch MLB on BBC
Sunday’s match will be broadcast live on the BBC from 6.30pm BST. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer, the more the BBC Sport website and app, with coverage starting on the Red Button from 7:30 p.m.
This is the second of five live MLB broadcasts on BBC Sport in September and October, covering the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.
The playoffs are scheduled to begin on October 1, with three rounds played to determine who will meet in the World Series (scheduled to begin on October 25).
BBC Upcoming MLB Schedule:
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Sunday, September 29 (8:00 p.m.): Coverage of the final day of the MLB regular season, with 15 simultaneous games
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Tuesday, October 1 (time to be confirmed): Back-to-back Wildcard Series games
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Saturday, October 5 (time to be confirmed): Back-to-back division series games
