3 series this weekend with playoff implications

As the season winds down, the teams at the top of every division are jockeying for position to set themselves up for a deep October run.

Here are three series coming up this weekend - the second-last of regular season play - that could have a major impact on the playoff picture.

Yankees at Blue Jays

The New York Yankees visit the Toronto Blue Jays for a critical series for both AL East teams. The Baby Bombers have only won three of their last 10 contests, and sit three games out of the second wild-card spot - Toronto holds the first by one over the Detroit Tigers. Going forward, the Yankees are the only team in the American League that won't face a losing team in the final stretch. The uphill climb is very real.

The Blue Jays need victories this weekend to hold ground over not only Detroit, but Baltimore, Houston, and Seattle, which are all within two games of snagging a wild-card berth. Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks may be hitting a relatively harmless .217 on the year, but he's 3-for-3 with a walk in his three career at-bats against Toronto's Friday starter, Francisco Liriano.

Diamondbacks at Orioles

Yes, the Arizona Diamondbacks are 64-88 and hardly have anything to do with October baseball - except when it comes to another team's October prospects. The Baltimore Orioles are half a game back of the second wild-card spot, and with Toronto and New York playing one another this weekend, the door might be wide open for the O's.

Arizona and Baltimore haven't met since August 2013. For a team already struggling to pull attendance numbers in the playoff hunt, surely having Arizona visit Camden Yards for the final home stand is going to go over swimmingly. This season, the D-Backs are tied with the equally dismal Cincinnati Reds for fewest IL wins with five. But it's not all making fun of the D-Backs, as the Orioles are 3-12 all time against Arizona. And that meeting in 2013? The Orioles were walked off three times by the D-Backs.

Giants at Padres

The San Francisco Giants, no strangers to the postseason, abruptly halted their slow descent with a 2-1 victory Thursday over the San Diego Padres. The Giants are locked into a tie with the New York Mets for the wild-card spots, but the St. Louis Cardinals are just a half-game behind, which is why beating the Padres, of all teams, is so crucial. Since the All-Star break, San Francisco hasn't been very good against San Diego (or anyone else, really). The Padres outscored the Giants 29-15 in six straight victories before Thursday's loss, and this time, they're outfitted with a smattering of top prospects in the dugout, including right fielder Hunter Renfroe. Renfroe went 2-for-4 on Thursday in his first MLB start after finishing his minor-league season as the MVP of the Pacific Coast League. He'll be the Mets/Cardinals' MVP too, if he can do some major damage to the Giants this weekend.