The Orioles led the American League East for much of the season and have long seemed to have a stranglehold of at least a wild-card spot, but all that matters is the state of things at the end of the season.
The Orioles, while now on the playoff bubble, find themselves in as good a spot as any of those other bubble teams with a week left in the season.
Their six-game road trip to Toronto and New York begins with the Orioles holding a 1.5 game advantage over the Detroit Tigers for the second wild card, and with three chances to close a gap on the wild card-leading Blue Jays.