BBC coverage of the hottest part of the Major League Baseball season continues this weekend with a crucial game in the race for the playoffs.

With just one week left of the regular season, the Detroit Tigers visit the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game series that ends Sunday.

Both teams are in a desperate battle in the American League for a wildcard spot and to keep their championship hopes alive.

You can follow all the action on Sunday from 6.30pm BST on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, with Red Button coverage starting at 7.30pm.

Motor City versus Charm City

Detroit is famous for two things: music and cars. The Ford Motor Company was founded in the Michigan city in 1903 and sparked a boom in automobile production that made Detroit known as the “Motor City.”

This title later inspired the name “Motown,” the record label founded in Detroit in 1959.

Baltimore is located about 520 miles away on the American east coast and was also one of America’s industrial centers. But just like Detroit, the Maryland city later experienced economic and social decline. This served as the basis for the television series The Wire.

The Detroit Tigers have won the World Series four times, most recently in 2012, while the Baltimore Orioles have won three championships, most recently in 1983.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is widely considered one of the most beautiful baseball stadiums in America and reflects Baltimore’s nickname “Charm City.”

Statistics and tables

The six MLB division winners are guaranteed a spot in the postseason, while six teams receive wildcard spots.

The Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers occupy two of the three spots in the American League, but the Orioles are under increasing pressure, having lost eight of their last 11 games for a record of 85-68.

However, the Tigers are finishing the season strong, winning nine of their last eleven games and improving their record to 80-73, closing the gap on the Orioles, Kansas City Royals (82-71) and Minnesota Twins (80-73).

Only Aaron Judge (53) and Shohei Ohtani (51) have hit more home runs this season than Baltimore’s Anthony Santander (42), while teammate Gunnar Henderson, who also participated in this year’s All-Star Game, ranks seventh on the list (37).

Riley Greene is the Tigers’ leading homer (24), hitting two in a 4-2 win over the Orioles when the teams met in Detroit last Sunday. Pitcher Tarik Skubal is Detroit’s other All-Star and ranks second in the league in both earned run average (2.48) and strikeouts (221).

Direct comparison

Sunday’s game is the last of a three-game series that begins Friday and comes just a week after the Tigers and Orioles face a similar matchup in Detroit.

These were their only meetings so far this season and the Tigers won the series 2-1.

In total, the two teams met 2,052 times, with the Tigers winning 1,075 times and the Orioles winning 977 times.

The two have only met once in the postseason, in the second round of the 2014 playoffs. The Orioles won 3-0.

How to watch MLB on BBC

Sunday’s game will be broadcast live on BBC from 6:30pm BST. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, with coverage starting on the Red Button from 7:30pm.

It is the second of five live MLB broadcasts on BBC Sport in September and October, covering the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.

The playoffs are expected to begin on October 1st. Three rounds will decide who will participate in the World Series (expected to begin on October 25th).

BBC’s upcoming MLB schedule:

• Sunday, September 29 (8:00 p.m.): Coverage of the last day of the MLB regular season with 15 simultaneous games

• Tuesday, October 1 (time to be announced): Two consecutive Wildcard Series games

• Saturday, October 5 (time to be announced): Two consecutive Division Series games