Entering 5th year, wild-card games have favored visitors

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Tommy Hunter pours beer over Michael Bourn in the visitors' clubhouse after the Orioles defeated the New York Yankees 5-2 in a baseball game to go to the playoffs , Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Baltimore Orioles pitcher Tommy Hunter pours beer over Michael Bourn in the visitors' clubhouse after the Orioles defeated the New York Yankees 5-2 in a baseball game to go to the playoffs , Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

By Associated Press October 4, 2016 3 min read

Fervent fans and last at-bats haven’t done the home teams much good in the first eight wild-card games.

As baseball enters its fifth season with its one-game, winner-take-all format prior to the Division Series, victorious visitors have become an unlikely trend. The road team is 6-2 in wild-card games – a good omen for the Orioles and Giants this year.

Baltimore, Toronto, the New York Mets and San Francisco are also trying to become the second team to go from wild-card winner to World Series champion – the Giants were the first, beating the wild-card winning Royals from the AL in the 2014 Fall Classic.

A look back at the first four years of wild-card games in preparation for Baltimore-Toronto on Tuesday and San Francisco-New York Mets on Wednesday:

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