The Baltimore Orioles and NY Yankees are playing live on the MLB schedule on Wednesday and the game at 1:05 pm ET from Yankee Stadium in New York could be the last home game for Derek Jeter, as the forecast may wipe out the Thursday game and that means Bud Norris and Shane Greene could be the pitching duel for his final Bronx matchup.
The Yankees basically have no chance to make the playoffs and the elimination number is down to one and things could be so meaningless by the end of the year that if tomorrow's game gets rained out, it may not even get made up. The Orioles are already in the playoffs as AL East champions and they have home field advantage in the ALDS and they could end up with home field overall if they finish out strong and that may make that game get played out because home field would be huge against a team like the Angels, especially with coast to coast travel involved.
If the Yankees lose this game, they are eliminated from the playoffs and it's already a longshot that they will make it. The Mariners and Indians are there as well and everyone is hoping that the Royals lose every game from here on out, but that is very unlikely and those teams will likely miss out. The Yankees offense has been historically bad among the team records and now they are limping to the finish after losing to the Orioles on Tuesday. The team won the opener and now they have this afternoon game before the game on Thursday, which may get rained out.
Jeter will end his career in Boston against the Red Sox and he is thankful that he made it through the whole season without any injuries. Jeter was hobbled last year by his broken ankle from the previous postseason and sadly that will be his final act in the playoffs, getting dragged off the field with a broken ankle against the Orioles. Jeter is an amazing player and one of the best ever, but this season was weird for him with all of the celebrations and gifts and while that's all great stuff, it seemed to overshadow the Yankees trying to make the playoffs. Hitting Jeter lower in the order once in a while would not have sullied his reputation, but not doing so absolutely hurt the Yankees playoff chances.
The team has a slim margin now and only a miracle can get it done and the Yankees are hoping for just that as Jeter ends his career. The rain is supposed to come down hard on Thursday and that could get the game moved and while the MLB Network and everyone else wants a perfect ending for the perfect player, they may not get it.
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