Scoreboard-watching on an Orioles off night

The Orioles are off on Monday night before Boston comes into town tomorrow, but some of the competition for the American League wild card spots will be in action. This is the place to root for them to lose.

Old friend Jeremy Guthrie already did his former team a favor by helping to knock off the Rays in an afternoon contest. The Rays are only a slump away from finding themselves in the second wild card spot, rather than the first, at which point they would be the team the Orioles are chasing. The Royals won Monday's game 11-1, racking up 13 hits including a 3-3 day with a home run and two walks by O's nemesis Billy Butler.

Tonight's action:

New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07
Phil Hughes (4-12, 4.88 ERA) vs. R.A. Dickey (9-12, 4.49 ERA)

The Yankees are 12-1 against the Blue Jays this season. They sit 1.5 games behind the Orioles in the wild card chase, 3.5 games back of Oakland. Both of these teams need to pass Cleveland as well as Oakland to get into the postseason.

New York has won seven of its last ten games. They have a 31-34 record on the road, but it probably doesn't matter because they own Toronto this year. Hughes gives up all of the home runs, and Toronto likes to hit home runs. You know where the percentages lie here.

Oakland Athletics @ Detroit Tigers, 7:08
A.J. Griffin (10-9, 3.84 ERA) vs. Anibal Sanchez (11-7, 2.45 ERA)

Sanchez is not getting the attention of some of his rotation-mates, but he is getting great results and is a big reason why Detroit is where they are. Griffin has a 4.12 ERA on the road. An Athletics loss would put the Orioles within 1.5 games of the second wild card position.

The Tigers should win this game, but probably won't, because every other team is mostly useless when it comes to helping the Orioles out. Maybe tonight they will do us a solid, though.