Current AL Wild Card picture and what the Orioles need to do to save their season

The Baltimore Orioles keep doing enough to stay alive in the American League Wild Card picture. Even after selling at the deadline, they once again took a series from the best team in the AL, the Tampa Bay Rays (before bludgeoning the Cardinals on Tuesday night), to keep themselves within two games of the final wild card spot.

The final spot in the American League playoffs is going to be one of the most down-to-the-wire races in a long time. No team has gone on any sort of streak to put a gap between themselves and the field, which currently consists of seven teams: Guardians, Rangers, Blue Jays, Twins, Mariners, Tigers, and Orioles.

As of Aug. 26, Cleveland is in possession of the final wildcard spot at 67-66, one game ahead of Texas and holding the tiebreaker. The O's (64-68) are 2.5 games back with the Mariners, Blue Jays and Twins all trailing by three. The Tigers have dropped to 4.5.

What are the Orioles' chances of making the 2026 MLB playoffs?

Unfortunately for Baltimore, it's not fully in their hands. They don't play Texas again, who they lost the season series to. They split the season series with the Twins, and the tiebreaker then goes to record against your division, and the Twins are above .500 against their division while the O's are five games under .500.

Baltimore will play teams they are in the fight with down the stretch, though. They'll see the Guardians first on Sept. 7-9 at home. The O's lost two of three to them back in April, so a sweep is ideal, but getting two of three is a must. They still have six against the Blue Jays, first on the road and then at home. Not only do they need to win both series to jump them in the standings, but winning division series to improve the intra-division record for tiebreakers is extremely crucial from here on out.

To that point, the O's also have four against Boston at home from Sept. 3-6 and then end the season in New York against the Yankees. The most important thing for Baltimore right now, though, is to take on the challenge that's right in front of them.

They have their final cross-country trip of the season, as they're in St. Louis for three before going to Sacramento for three and then to Colorado for three. The 16 games in 16 days stretch ends with the Guardians. Trips like these are extremely challenging and taxing, but coming out of this stretch with a 9-7 or 10-6 record will keep them in the picture the rest of the way, especially since it's clear nobody wants to pull ahead of the pack.

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