The race for the last Wild Card spot in the American League has been the tensest so far, yet it’s also been the most sluggish battle to watch virtually all season long.

At one point, the Toronto Blue Jays weren’t in contention until they played themselves into a potential playoff spot after winning seven series from late July to mid-August. While they haven’t been able to maintain a convincing streak to become a legitimate contender, they are still in an intense playoff race, along with four other teams gunning for the final Wild Card spot.

On paper, the Blue Jays are only facing teams who are below .500 for the rest of September, but they are competing against four other AL playoff hopefuls to get into the playoff picture. Here is what the remaining four contenders’ schedules look like down the stretch.

The Baltimore Orioles have one of the toughest remaining schedules out of all AL Wild Card contenders. The softest part of their schedule is a three-game series against the New York Mets between September 14 and 16.

After facing the Mets, they are slated to face the Milwaukee Brewers, who currently have the best record in MLB, and the Blue Jays at home. Their last series is against the New York Yankees in the Bronx, which won’t be an easy way to finish their season.

The Orioles are three games away from securing the last Wild Card spot. For this team to claim a place in the playoffs, they will most definitely need to sweep at least one series against one of the three teams while waiting for the Cleveland Guardians and the Blue Jays to lose more games.

Baltimore’s path to the playoffs might be challenging, but there is a chance for the team to do the impossible by creating their own hot streak at the right time.

The Cleveland Guardians are the only team that don’t face fellow contenders who are competing for the last AL Wild Card spot for the rest of September.

Their schedule is something of a mixed bag with strong and weaker teams. Their toughest match-ups are against the Chicago White Sox, who are the AL Central division leaders, and the Boston Red Sox, who hold the second Wild Card spot.

Outside of those two series, they face the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals, which should give them an edge in holding their last Wild Card spot. The Guardians have secured a series win against the Athletics before, but they oddly have a 5-5 record against the Royals – the last-place team in the AL Central – this season.

Winning against the Athletics and the Royals will be key for the Guardians to hold down the last Wild Card spot they currently hold if they aren’t able to win against the White Sox or the Red Sox. Overall, Cleveland has to win most of the remaining series, ideally with the Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers within two games of the playoff spot. That leaves the Guardians with very little margin to play with to get to October baseball, but if there’s any scrappy team that can defend their spot, it would be the Guardians with their brand of elite pitching and pesky baseball.

The Minnesota Twins will need a miracle to get into the playoffs. They are 4.5 games behind the Guardians, who hold the final Wild Card spot; this team will need to have a 10-game winning streak and serious losses from other Wild Card contenders for their improbable playoff story.

Facing the New York Yankees at home will be the hardest task for the Twins, and if they are unable to secure the series win here, they will have to win against the Los Angeles Angels and the San Francisco Giants to make their case.

Perhaps the most crucial series in September will be the one against the Texas Rangers, as both teams eye the final Wild Card Spot in the league. Should the Twins win enough games to inch closer to the playoff picture, they would have to either win or sweep the Rangers to have a shot.

However, the Twins will probably determine the Rangers’ playoff fortune and would likely grade out as a spoiler team that could change the narrative for other Wild Card contenders if they can’t manage to win more games down the line.

The Texas Rangers are only two games away from overtaking the Guardians for the last Wild Card spot. Much like the Blue Jays, there is still a possibility for them to play themselves into October baseball.

The Rangers’ remaining schedule is fairly easy, but they will have to face the Blue Jays and the Twins, who are also gunning for the final AL Wild Card spot. So far this season, the Rangers swept the Blue Jays in a four-game series while getting swept by the Twins in a three-game series. The most ideal outcome for the Rangers is winning their two series against Toronto and Minnesota.

That’s why their three-game series against the Blue Jays will be the most critical stretch in September. Lose this series, and the Rangers will fall further behind. Win this series, and they will be in a better position to pose a meaningful threat to the Guardians.

But before facing the Blue Jays, the Rangers will have to win at least two games against the Red Sox to meaningfully move themselves up in the standings. In the end, if the Rangers lose against the Red Sox between September 15 and 17, while the Guardians and the Blue Jays win their respective series around the same time, they will be closer to getting eliminated from the playoffs altogether.

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