NEW YORK -- For one team, there is the no tomorrow. For the other, there is a very real, and very literal tomorrow.
Following Friday's 5 p.m. ET Game 5 of the American League Division Series on TBS, the losing team will disperse. It'll move on to "bag day," clearing out lockers and heading home. The winning team's players will have absolutely no leisure time. They'll pop some champagne, most likely, and start thinking about Game 1 of the AL Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers -- the very next day.
If the Yankees win, they'll at least have the benefit of not having to get on a plane. They would host the Tigers in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium on Saturday evening. If the Orioles win, they'd head to the airport and hop a flight to Detroit before trying to "sleep fast" and prepare to battle for the franchise's first pennant in 29 years.
It's not the usual way of doing business. The off-day between this ALDS and the ALCS is a casualty of the changes to this year's postseason schedule, as the one-game Wild Card playoffs were scheduled for the beginning of October.
As far as Friday goes, nothing changes. A deciding playoff game is a deciding playoff game, no matter what comes next. If a starter scuffles, he comes out. If the big pinch-hitting opportunity comes in the fourth, so be it.
"It's all hands on deck," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter. "Everything is pointing toward those nine innings or more tomorrow. I'm sure the biggest challenge I have is talking somebody out of ... being available."
Yankees manager Joe Girardi echoed the sentiment, in even fewer words. With a chance to advance, everything is on the table.
For the team that does advance, though, there's a new set of challenges. The Yankees will use ace CC Sabathia on Friday, meaning he wouldn't be available until at least Game 3 of the ALCS, and even that would be on three days' rest. The Orioles will counter with Jason Hammel, the club's nominal No. 1 starter, but the Baltimore rotation is more a group of equals than an ace and a supporting cast.
In either case, though, the greater question comes the day after that. For the winner of this series, Game 2 of the ALCS will mark the fifth straight day with a game. The 2-3 format means that the last three games of the Division Series were played on consecutive days, followed by the first two of the ALCS before an off-day.
It's exceedingly rare to need more than four starting pitchers in the postseason, and in fact sometimes a team tries to get by with only three. The winner of this series will almost certainly use five.
The Yankees would most likely use Andy Pettitte in Game 1 on regular rest, leaving them a question in Game 2. It's extremely unlikely they would bring back Hiroki Kuroda on short rest for that game, so they would probably turn to rookie right-hander David Phelps, who allowed one run over 1 1/3 innings and was charged with the loss in Thursday's 3-2 setback in 13 innings. Under normal circumstances, Phelps would not start a playoff game, but these aren't normal circumstances.
The Orioles would have a couple of choices. They could bring back Wei-Yin Chen on regular rest for Game 1, followed by Chris Tillman in Game 2. Alternately, they could give Chen the extra rest that has often been beneficial for him this year and start Tillman in Game 1 before using Chen in Game 2.
It's the kind of decision that managers and front-office people don't like to talk about, but you can be sure that some discussions of contingency plans are under way. And, of course, yet another lengthy game could change the whole equation. If Tillman or Phelps are needed in relief in Game 5 on Friday, it could even further complicate the situation.
Speaking of which, the bullpens are quite an issue in their own right. New York's David Robertson has pitched in all four games of the series, and closer Rafael Soriano has pitched each of the past two days. Should they appear on Friday, which seems likely in a game the Yankees have a chance to win, they'd be stretched awfully thin for the start of the ALCS.
The same goes for the O's, who have used all three of their top relievers in each of the series' four games: Jim Johnson, Darren O'Day and Brian Matusz. O'Day pitched 2 2/3 innings on Thursday, so his availability would probably be limited on Friday, but in an all-hands situation, he could still get a call.
So even though the Tigers used their ace, Justin Verlander, to secure their series against the A's with Thursday's 6-0 win in Game 5, they have to like their chances at the moment. Detroit at least has a day to rest up and relax just a little bit before moving on to the ALCS.
Not that anybody on the Orioles or Yankees is complaining. They have at least one more game in their season, with the chance to guarantee a few more. It's all you can ask for, and they've got it.
"You're still playing baseball," said Yankees captain Derek Jeter. "It's the same game, whether it's the first game of the season or the postseason. You've got to try to have fun with it, enjoy it. Yeah, you understand that the end result could be a little different, but while you're playing the game, it's still baseball."
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