TT: Every game is a playoff game now

[weams]

I'd rather start Hyun Soo Kim on the mound than Wade Miley. Aside from taking a bat out of his hands, it would be an upgrade to our chances of winning the game.

So, we lose Sunday, guaranteed, unless the offense has an absolute monster game against them. Gotta win these next couple to keep pace.

Even if they pull him with four runs allowed and have a righty face their lineup?

[tntoriole]

11-6 and we are at 91 wins and, given the situation, I think it wins the division.

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[OriolesMagic83]

I agree with this thread. The O's have to try to win every game. Starting Miley tomorrow is not trying to win. I hope he doesn't start another game this year, unless its after the O's have clinched a playoff spot. There was a show on XM radio a couple of nights ago about how some managers, including Buck are screwing up their team's playoff chances. They focused on teams like the O's, Tigers, and Blue Jays trying to save young pitchers arms when they should be trying to get to the playoffs. They were also very critical of Buck trying to save the bullpen and extend weak starters like Miley and Gallardo. Their point was that the O's and other teams have 15 guys in the bullpen, and if the bullpen needs to pitch 8 innings, they can do it. I also remember they criticized Buck for not pulling Gallardo quickly when the O's got the lead back after Gallardo had given up 3 1st inning runs.

[Moshagge3]

Buck stuck with Tillman too long tonight and going with Drake to pitch the eighth was silly. Those were June moves, not September moves.

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[BMann]

The O's are fortunate that they aren't playing on Sunday to avoid a sweep. The Rays look loose while the O's look like a team letting the pressure get to them a bit.

Hard to feel confident at all with Miley taking the mound on Sunday. Maybe he'll pull a Pete Harnisch and show up to the park unable to go. I certainly don't wish injury on the guy, but if he were to pull an Al Czervick, I'd be OK with it. Danny Noonan would definitely give us a better chance to win tomorrow!

[OFFNY]

Since I apparently control the Orioles baseball universe with my previous takes on whether the Orioles are mediocre or a playoff team, I will refrain from making any further proclamations. But no matter how you feel about the Orioles chances of making the playoffs this year, what can't be denied is that every game from here on out is meaningful. Sure, you can say that about any game throughout the season, but one glance at the standings and schedule ahead and you see what a dogfight the Orioles are in for.

Going into tonight's ultra-important game against the Red Sox tonight, the Orioles trail the AL East leaders by two games while being tied with Toronto for the final wild card spot. Obviously the Orioles want to win the AL East in order to be guaranteed more than the one-game winner takes all Wild card, but even the wild card is perilous with Detroit and the red-hot Yankees just two games back and the Mariners 2.5 games back. You know the same Mariners who traded their veteran starter (Wade Miley, 1-5, 8.41 in 8 starts for Orioles) to the Orioles for an unheralded rookie (Angel Miranda, 3-1, 3.49 in 7 starts for Mariners) because they felt he was as good or better, but cost significantly less.

Tonight's game is huge because it's the difference between being one game out of 1st or three games with 18 games left. Kevin Gausman will need to be on his A-game tonight as the Red Sox send 20-game winner Rick Porcello to the mound. The good news is that Gausman has been very good of late (3-1, 108 over last four starts) while historically the Orioles have handled Porcello pretty well (3-7, 5.61 in 13 career starts) including scoring five runs off him in six innings of work back in June. The bad news is that Gausman has struggled against Boston this year allowing 11 runs in nine innings of work (11.00 ERA) in two starts. This might be the biggest start of Gausman?s career so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to playoff-like intensity in a hostile environment.

After tonight, the Orioles will still control their own destiny as they will have four more games to go against Boston at home before ending the year with a brutal six game road trip through Toronto and New York. With that road trip to finish the year, they must make the most of their final 12-game homestand that will include the Boston series, but also series against last place Tampa and Arizona. They must treat every game from here on out as a playoff game, even against the doormats of their respective Divisions.

The Orioles have proven to be a resilient bunch so no one expects anything but a dog fight until the end. Regardless of how they got here, or moves that were made or not made, the one thing Orioles fans can't say is that this won't be exciting.

Playoff baseball starts tonight! If you want to see playoff games, you have 12-games to go to over the next two weeks at Camden Yards. It's time for Orioles fans to show up and be loud and rock Camden Yards with a sea of Orange! Go O's! Let's do this!

o

Every game has indeed (essentially) been a playoff game since this thread was started back on September 14th........ maybe even before this thread was started on that date.