Orioles clinch home-field advantage in American League Wild Card Series

MINNEAPOLIS — Members of the Orioles’ 2023 American League East championship team got to experience the atmosphere of October baseball at Camden Yards. That squad ended the franchise’s seven-year postseason drought and hosted its first playoff home games since ‘14.

It was electric. The sellout crowds were packed with orange apparel. There were constant roars. The energy was palpable.

“It’s insane. It’s incredible, actually,” Ryan O’Hearn said. “Just how loud it is.”

This year, Baltimore will get to hear that raucous noise again.

The Orioles notched a 7-2 victory over the Twins in Friday night’s series opener at Target Field, clinching the American League’s top Wild Card seed and home-field advantage in the AL Wild Card Series. Baltimore also eliminated Minnesota from playoff contention in the process.

The O’s (89-71) will face either the Tigers or the Royals at Camden Yards in the AL Wild Card Series. Game 1 is set for Tuesday, followed by Game 2 on Wednesday and a potential Game 3 on Thursday. Detroit (86-74) has a one-game lead for the No. 5 seed over Kansas City (85-75), which holds the tiebreaker between the two teams.

It’ll be the second straight year that postseason baseball has been held in Baltimore. Last year, the Orioles hosted Games 1 and 2 of the AL Division Series, but they were swept in three games by the eventual World Series champion Rangers.

“Looking forward to hearing the ‘O!’ in the national anthem. Just seeing the energy in the stadium,” said O’Hearn, who went deep for the first time since Aug. 27 with a two-run homer in the second. “We’re going to, hopefully, put on a show for our home fans and kind of avenge how last year’s home postseason games went.”

The O’s final two games of the regular season vs. the Twins will be all about getting players tuned up for the postseason. Rookie left-hander Cade Povich already appears ready to go, should the Orioles decide to include the 24-year-old on their roster for any series.

Povich tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Minnesota — the organization that selected the southpaw in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft and then sent him to Baltimore in the Jorge López deal at the ‘22 Trade Deadline.

“My fiancée’s from here, being closer to family — that’s kind of what meant a lot to me,” said Povich, who grew up in Bellevue, Neb., and shrugged off any notion of this being a “revenge game.”

Povich threw 17 of the 20 fastest pitches in his 16-start MLB career, including a 96 mph four-seam fastball to Manuel Margot in the first and two others that were 95 mph or more, per Statcast. His previous high was 94.5.

Povich touched 95 mph in Triple-A, so it wasn’t completely out of the norm for him.

Over five September starts, Povich recorded a 2.60 ERA to finish the regular season strong. Consider it an audition for the postseason.

The O’s will likely send Corbin Burnes and Zach Eflin, respectively, to the mound for Games 1 and 2 of the Wild Card Series, with Dean Kremer the favorite to start a potential Game 3. Albert Suárez is also in the mix to serve as either a starter or reliever in October.

Povich hopes he’ll get an opportunity to make his postseason debut, however it comes.

“I understand the roster, I understand me being young,” Povich said. “But just treating every start as kind of a tryout for the postseason, giving my best to hopefully get a chance in the postseason, and I’m very pleased with how this last month went.”

The Orioles gave Povich plenty of offensive support in his final regular-season outing. Colton Cowser hit the 24th homer of the season for the rookie — a solo shot in the seventh — then Baltimore broke the game open with a four-run eighth.

When the O’s are clicking like that, they can be a dangerous team. And they’re hoping this is how they’ll perform next week, when they’ll play their biggest games of the year so far amid their return to October.

“We’re going to be pumped to play in front of our fans,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We know there’s going to be a lot of energy and excitement in the ballpark, and our guys are really looking forward to that.”