AL East

Sometimes, the baseball gods just don't smile down upon you.

Baltimore's season came to a brutal end in extra innings, as Edwin Encarnacion's three-run blast off Ubaldo Jimenez in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Toronto Blue Jays a 5-2 victory over the Orioles, who are now 2-8 in their last 10 playoff games dating back to 2012.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello loves to fly fish whenever work doesn’t get in the way. This year, he may reel in the American League Cy Young Award or baseball's ultimate catch—a World Series ring.

This season, the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles couldn't have played each other closer.

In 19 games, Toronto won 10 and Baltimore nine.

Each team protected its home-field advantage. The Orioles went 5-4 at Camden Yards, while the Blue Jays were 6-4 at Rogers Centre. MLB couldn't have hand-picked two better teams to pit against one another in the American League Wild Card Game.

The Toronto Blue Jays went 21 consecutive years without making the playoffs after winning the 1993 World Series. On Sunday, they clinched their second straight postseason spot.

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Atlanta Braves, 1-0, which locked up Toronto's wild-card berth.

The team's Twitter account celebrated the news:

The Baltimore Orioles are headed to the postseason for just the third time since the 1997 campaign.

Baltimore clinched a wild-card berth with a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday, as the team shared on Twitter:

The Boston Red Sox announced Sunday that they will retire David Ortiz's No. 34, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.

The honors for Ortiz won't end there, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted:

Unlikely heroes rise in the postseason.

With the Baltimore Orioles fighting for their playoff lives, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez is getting an early start.

Jimenez twirled 6.2 scoreless frames Thursday in the Orioles' 4-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing one hit with three walks and five strikeouts.

The Boston Red Sox clinched their eighth American League East division title on Wednesday thanks to the Baltimore Orioles' 3-2 win over the second-place Toronto Blue Jays. 

New York Yankees rookie catcher Gary Sanchez hit his 20th home run of the season (and his career) in Tuesday's 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox, tying Wally Berger's record for fastest player to reach 20 career long balls, needing only 50 major league appearances to accomplish the feat, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who is retiring after the 2016 season, spoke with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci about retiring, steroids, his approach to the game and more in a lengthy interview.