First pitch: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York -110, Baltimore -105, Total: 8.5

The Orioles will be going for their third straight victory when they host the Yankees on Friday.

New York was able to defeat Boston 4-1 on Thursday and the victory guaranteed the Yankees a spot in the wild card game. This postseason appearance for New York is the first the team will have made in three years. The Orioles, meanwhile, had a very disappointing season but have won two straight games coming into this contest. There will be some good pitchers on the mound in this game, as RHP Luis Severino (5-3, 2.77 ERA, 50 K) will start for the Yankees and LHP Wei-Yin Chen (10-8, 3.35 ERA, 150 K) will be pitching for the Orioles. One thing that benefits New York in this game is the fact that the team is 4-1 against the money line versus teams whose hitters draw three walks or less per game when Severino is pitching. The Orioles, however, are 104-83 versus a starting pitcher who strikes out five or more batters per game. Both teams will be playing at far from full strength, as 3B Chase Headley (Back) and OF Jacoby Ellsbury (Back) are questionable for the Yankees. New York is already without 1B Mark Teixeira (Shin) for the season. The Orioles, however, are not going to have Adam Jones (Back) for the rest of the season.

The Yankees will be a bit looser in this game, as they will not be facing the pressure of not making the playoffs this series. New York clinched a playoff berth on Thursday and now Luis Severino will be on the mound against the Orioles. Severino was outstanding in his last start, pitching six innings of shutout baseball against the White Sox on Sep. 27. He has allowed just three earned runs in his past 17.2 innings on the mound. OF Carlos Beltran (.273, 19 HR, 66 RBI), 2B Robert Refsnyder (.286, 2 HR, 4 RBI) and 1B Greg Bird (.255, 11 HR, 30 RBI) all homered for the Yankees in Thursday’s victory. Beltran and Bird will be extremely important in determining how far this team can go in the postseason. They are both going to need to produce at the plate and Refsnyder can provide a spark as well. He has been one of the Yankees’ most exciting prospects over the years and is now getting a chance to play due to injuries in the lineup.

The Orioles have not played the way they want to this season, but they’d still love to finish this year off with a series win over the Yankees. Chen will be on the mound for the Orioles and he has allowed two or less runs in each of his past three starts. He has also struck out seven batters in two straight starts. Chen did, however, really struggle against the Yankees the last time he faced them. He allowed five runs on nine hits in just five innings of work. 1B Chris Davis (.258, 45 HR, 112 RBI) is the player to watch in this Orioles lineup. He is 3-for-6 with two homers and two RBI over the past two games and has the power to really give Severino trouble. If Severino is to make any mistakes with his fastball then Davis will surely send it into the bleachers.