After an intense finish to the regular season, which saw both American League wild-card spots clinched on the seasons final day, the playoffs are finally here, with the Orioles visiting the Blue Jays to open the festivities. Discount Authentic Saucony Shoes .?Will Toronto rule at home, or will it be Baltimore marching on to the AL Division Series?Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Tuesday nights game, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page.Inside the pitching matchupWhen Tillman is on the mound:?Buck Showalter goes with the steadier hand of Tillman over the hot hand of the unpredictable Ubaldo Jimenez (who pitched 6? one-hit innings against the Blue Jays on Sept. 29). Its not clear Tillman is completely healthy after missing three weeks in late August and early September with shoulder bursitis. His average fastball velocity in his last start was 90.1 mph, well below his season average of 91.7 -- although he limited the Blue Jays to two runs (one earned) in 5? innings in that outing. Perhaps as a result of the decline in velocity, he has been throwing fewer fastballs down the stretch -- his season rate was 56 percent, but he has been below 50 percent his past three starts. He pitches up in the zone with the fastball, which leads to a high fly ball rate, and utilizes a conventional four-pitch repertoire. He didnt show any platoon split this year (.323 wOBA versus lefties, .326 versus righties).Of course, if any team is going to turn a wild-card game into a bullpen game, it should be the Orioles. Showalter may not ask Tillman to go much more than one time through the order, perhaps going to Jimenez or Dylan Bundy for a couple innings, and then hoping to get to his late-game relievers. Brad Brach has pitched two innings five times this year and Zach Britton has gone more than three outs seven times, including two innings against the Blue Jays in a July extra-inning game. At the minimum, Showalter should be asking three innings out of those two. -- David SchoenfieldWhen Stroman is on the mound: Some believed John Gibbons would go with Francisco Liriano?because the Orioles, despite all their right-handed power, have the lowest OPS in the AL against southpaws. Instead, Gibbons goes with the guy who delivered a clutch effort in Game 5 of the Division Series against the Rangers last year. Stroman is fun to watch -- a short righty with a six-pitch repertoire. He has gone to his sinker and cutter more this year, throwing those pitches more than 50 percent of the time, while mixing in his fastball, curve, slider and changeup. His game is all about keeping the ball down and getting grounders; he had the highest ground ball rate of any qualified starter in the majors. He has been very good his final 13 starts, posting a 3.24 ERA and allowing just seven home runs in 83? innings. Facing the team that led the majors in home runs, Stromans ability to limit the big fly will be the key.As for late-game relief, the Jays pen struggled down the stretch, including three late-game meltdowns the final week. Closer Roberto Osuna pitched six times in the seasons final nine days and twice allowed two runs. Setup man Jason Grilli allowed six runs in his final three outings. Thats why you may see Liriano in relief and possibly even Marco Estrada on three days rest. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightManny Machado: The All-Star third baseman was injured when the Orioles made the playoffs in 2014, so his lone postseason trip came when he was a 20-year-old rookie in 2012. He hit .158 in six postseason games that year, so you know hes chomping to do something big. Machado didnt match his monster first half, sliding from a .944 OPS to .798, in part because he started chasing more pitches out of the zone. Machado feasts on fastballs, hitting .345/.398/.659, and has a much higher slugging percentage on pitches in the upper third of the zone, so look for Stroman to throw him a lot of offspeed stuff and sinkers at the bottom of the zone. -- SchoenfieldWhat will decide tonights gameHow they handle the heat: No two teams hit fastballs for home runs more often than the Orioles and Blue Jays. Baltimore led the majors with a 5.0 HR percentage against fastballs, while Toronto was second at 4.1 percent. Tillman has allowed a 1.9 percent home run rate against his fastball this season, compared to 3.5 percent against his other pitches. --?Ken Woolums, ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win??The Orioles are a terrific story, but they earned a wild-card berth largely on the strength of a 50-31 record at Camden Yards. They went 39-42 on the road and 4-6 at Rogers Centre this season. If its a tight game, Britton and Showalters bullpen management give Baltimore the edge. But that Toronto lineup is a chore to navigate in the dome, and the Jays have just a little too much for the Os. -- Jerry Crasnick?With their 253 home runs and just 19 stolen bases, a friend compared the Orioles to a slow-pitch softball team. Yet with 89 wins, make that a very, very good slow-pitch softball team, like the one I was on that won my colleges intramural championship more years ago than I want to mention. While Jerry notes that the Orioles have struggled away from Baltimore, they did win four of six on the road last week, including two of three in Toronto. They also have Tillman going against Stroman, who was 9-10 with a 4.37 ERA and an even higher 7.04 ERA against Baltimore in three starts. And the Jays offense has not been that great lately. I look for a close and high-scoring game. I would not be willing to bet against either team, but I wouldnt be shocked to see the Orioles celebrating a victory on their bench with hot dogs and six-packs of beer.?-- Jim Caple?Home-field advantage hasnt meant much in these one-game affairs, with the visiting team winning six of the eight games played so far. Weve seen managers wait too long to go the bullpen in these games -- but I dont think Showalter will make the same mistake. So unless Tillman absolutely blows up in the first inning, I give a slight edge to the Os because of their bullpen depth and the reliability of Britton at the end of the game. -- SchoenfieldWhere the series standsIts all or nothing for these two teams as the winner moves on the face the Rangers on Thursday in Texas, and the loser can start making offseason tee times. --?ESPN.com Discount Saucony Shoes Online . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Saucony Shoes From China . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. http://www.cheapsaucony.com/ . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold believes his undefeated A-League ladder leaders are playing nowhere near their true potential.Arnold is adamant only a superior fitness base has his team on the cusp of six-straight wins to kick-off their campaign, and predicts there are higher gears to come.Our fitness levels when I watch all the games across the A-League, I think were the fittest team in the country, Arnold said on Friday.We can run teams off their legs, weve done that the first five weeks.Once we get fitter, I think well evolve as a football team in possession because it takes time for players to gel together.That will take time, well evolve as the season goes. Overall I think were playing at about sixty per cent of where well end up. Its exciting to see where we will end up.Arnolds comments will reverberate around a league that has watched a healthy roster last week beat rivals Melbourne Victory 2-1.However the two-time A-League championship-winning coach has no concerns about what the rest of the competition think about his team.I dont think about the other teams. I just think about ourselves, he said.I asked (the players) the question after the game, is there anyone here performing at the best of their ability individually? And not one hand went up. Saucony Shoes Deals. So they know that theres a lot of improvement individually to go, which obviously then as a team, well get better.Arnold is again expected to stick with the same line-up that defeated Victory.However he could opt to start match-winner David Carney over captain Alex Brosque in the midfield.Another victory would bring Sydney FC a step closer to a club-record 10 wins in succession, set when they made the final of the inaugural 2005-06 season.But Arnold is certain their early-season form hasnt placed undue pressure on his outfit.I keep driving to the players, it means nothing. Theres still 22 rounds to go, he said.The main thing is that we train hard every day, we get better at every training sessions, and our performance gets better in matches.Overall I wasnt that happy with last weeks performance. I thought the victory, the character, the mentality was great, (but) our fitness got us over the line, not our football. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys From China Cheap Nike Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Hockey Jerseys China Nike Baseball Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys China Cheap Football Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys Canada Wholesale Nike MLB Jerseys Canada Cheap NBA Jerseys Authentic Canada Stitched Soccer Jerseys Canada Cheap Jerseys Canada NFL ' ' '