The Blue Jays and Orioles both battled until the final day of the season to secure wild-card berths, with the former losing nine of their first 12 September games, costing them first place in the AL East; they went just 13–16 from Sept. 1 onward. The latter, on the other hand, went 17–12 in that span. Those arcs may attach themselves to convenient and entertaining narratives, but functionally it doesn't matter: Since the two-team wild card debuted in 2012, the team with the better September/October record has gone just 4–4 in the game itself. The Blue Jays have home field advantage on the basis of their 10–9 season series edge, but so far, home teams are 2–6 in the wild-card game.
AL wild-card game preview: Orioles, Blue Jays bring power to playoffs
