Orioles and Twins lineups for the first game of the final regular season series

MINNEAPOLIS – Here we go again.

An Orioles win tonight secures the home wild card, otherwise the Tigers would have to lose to the White Sox.

Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter, with Ryan Mountcastle at first base. Jordan Westburg starts again at second base and bats second.

Cade Povich will face the team that drafted him in 2021 for the first time in his career. He has posted a 3.27 ERA and 0.955 WHIP while striking out 30 batters in four starts totaling 22 innings this month. Opponents are hitting .175/.241/.363.

26 of Anthony Santander’s 77 strikeouts this season have been home runs (33.8 percent), the highest percentage by an Oriole with at least 75 hits since Brady Anderson’s 35.2 in 1996, according to STATS.

The Orioles swept a three-game series against the Twins at Target Field last year by a combined score of 24-5. The teams met at Camden Yards in April and the Orioles won the three-game series, outscoring the Twins 22-9.

The winning streak has grown to seven games at 48-15. Another would tie the franchise’s second-longest stretch behind 12 in a row from 1980 to 1981, according to STATS.

Gunnar Henderson is batting .177 against the American League Central this season. He hit a home run in all three games against the Twins in April.

Minnesota right-hander Pablo López is 15-9 with a 4.11 ERA and 1.180 WHIP in 31 starts, and he has walked 38 batters and recorded 190 strikeouts in 179 2/3 innings.

López had three consecutive scoreless starts in August, totaling 20 2/3 innings. On September 10, he did not give up one earned run over seven innings against the Angels and held the Guardians to two runs in 6 1/3 before appearing in his final game against the Red Sox, allowing seven runs and nine hits in four innings gave up.

The Orioles faced López on April 17 in Baltimore and managed just one run and two hits in six innings. Gunnar Henderson hit a leadoff home run. López made three career starts against the Orioles and went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 0.588 WHIP in 17 innings.

The Twins were in the middle of the Wild Card race, but fell to first team out status in the playoffs. They lost five of six games before beating the Marlins 8-3 on Wednesday. They had previously suffered nine defeats in twelve games in August.

Minnesota was 70-53 through Aug. 17, but has gone 12-24 with a 4.65 ERA and .266 opponent average, the worst mark in the American League during that period, according to STATS.

For the Orioles

Gunnar Henderson SS
Jordan Westburg 2B
Anthony Santander RF
Colton Cowser LF
Adleyrutschman C
Ryan O’Hearn DH
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Cedric Mullins CF
Ramon Urias 3B

Cade Povich LHP

For the twins

Manuel Margot RF
Carlos Correa SS
Byron Buxton CF
Carlos Santana 1B
Royce Lewis 3B
Kyle Farmer 2B
Ryan Jeffers DH
Christian Vazquez C
Willi Castro LF

Pablo Lopez RHP