American League division series capsule

DETROIT AT BALTIMORE

TIME/TV 4:37 p.m., TBS

SEASON SERIES Tigers won 5-1.

PROJECTED LINEUP

TIGERS

POS. PLAYER AVG. HR RBI 2B Ian Kinsler .275 17 92 RF Torii Hunter .286 17 83 1B Miguel Cabrera .313 25 109 DH Victor Martinez .335 32 103 LF J.D. Martinez .315 23 76 3B Nick Castellanos .259 11 66 C Alex Avila .218 11 47 SS Andrew Romine .227 2 12 CF Rajai Davis .282 8 51

STARTING PITCHER W L ERA Max Scherzer 18 5 3.15

ORIOLES

POS. PLAYER AVG. HR RBI RF Nick Markakis .276 14 50 LF Alejandro De Aza .252 8 41 CF Adam Jones .281 29 96 DH Nelson Cruz .271 40 108 1B Steve Pearce .293 21 49 SS J.J. Hardy .268 9 52 3B Ryan Flaherty .221 7 32 C Caleb Joseph .207 9 28 2B Jonathan Schoop .209 16 45

STARTING PITCHER W L ERA Chris Tillman 13 6 3.34

MATCHUPS

The Orioles lost 5 of 6 to the Tigers, but the teams last met on May 14. … In Baltimore’s lone victory, Tillman allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings and Hunter got the save. … Tillman is 3-0 with a 3.58 ERA in 6 career starts against Detroit. … Jones is 9 for 18 with 2 doubles and 1 home run against first-game starter Scherzer. … Cruz is 8 for 21 with a HR against Scherzer. … Hardy is 4 for 23 (.174). … Markakis (12 for 48) and Flaherty (2 for 8) are the only Orioles with a career batting average as high as .250 against Verlander. … The Orioles’ Miller was once a prized prospect in Detroit’s system. He was traded as part of the deal that brought Cabrera to the Tigers before the 2008 season. … Kinsler, Hunter, Cabrera and J.D. Martinez all bat right-handed, leaving Detroit potentially vulnerable to O’Day, a right-hander, out of the bullpen. … Baltimore OF Delmon Young played for the Tigers from 2011-12 and hit eight postseason home runs for Detroit. … The Tigers and Orioles have never met in the postseason, having shared a division for a while in the AL East.

BIG PICTURE

Tigers: Detroit has made the AL Championship Series the past three years, each time winning a decisive Game 5 of the division series on the road. … The Tigers have won four consecutive AL Central titles, but their most recent World Series championship was in 1984. … In Scherzer, Price and Verlander, Detroit has the AL’s past three Cy Young Award winners, and the MVPs from the past three years (Verlander and Cabrera) also play for the Tigers. … Detroit won the division by one game for a second consecutive season. Cleveland finished second in 2013, Kansas City this year.

Orioles: Clinched AL East title on Sept. 16 and have coasted to finish. Manager Buck Showalter provided his starting position players with ample rest and provided his starters an extra day off between starts. Although Baltimore went 5-6 down the stretch, Showalter deemed keeping the team fresh to be more important than carrying momentum into the postseason. … This is Baltimore’s second postseason appearance since 1997. The last one, in 2012, ended with a loss in five games to New York in the division series after the Orioles beat Texas in the wild-card game.

Upcoming Events