HOMECOMING: Baltimore manager Buck Showalter will match his Orioles against one of the teams he once managed, the Rangers, tonight in Arlington, Texas, in the AL wild-card game. (
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ARLINGTON, Texas — There’s a twinkle in Buck Showalter’s eye. He is on the big stage again, managing the one game everyone will be watching tonight.
It’s going to be a wild ride as Showalter’s Orioles try to find a way to beat the Rangers in this do-or-die, wild-card encounter at the Ballpark in Arlington. The winner gets to exhale before moving on to play the Yankees in the ALDS.
This is the Buck is Back Tour.
He lives for games like this and you can be sure he has mapped out every possibility. He gets to manage back in Texas, where he spent four years guiding the Rangers, and if the Orioles pull this off, he will get back to The Bronx, where Showalter set the foundation for those Dynasty Yankees, bringing the team to the postseason in 1995 for the first time since 1981.
Joe Torre took over from there.
All week Showalter has been engaging and insightful. He said the credit goes to his players. He is just being modest. He has gotten these Orioles to believe in themselves, and has squeezed 93 wins out of this pitching staff that doesn’t have anything close to a No. 1 starter.
“Buck has done a tremendous job,’’ first-year GM Dan Duquette told The Post, “especially with the pitching staff.’’
The Orioles managed to throw 10 shutouts this season, something they haven’t done since 2004. Showalter has gotten wins from 19 different pitchers, one shy of the club record his team set last season. Since the start of the 2011 season the Orioles are 51-31 (.621) in one-run games, the highest winning percentage in the game over that span. Bruce Bochy, another excellent manager, and his Giants are second at 62-42, a .596 winning percentage.
If tonight’s game stays close, something the Orioles pitchers may not be able to do against the Rock ’em, Sock ’em Rangers, Showalter will find a way to pull out a victory. The Orioles were 29-9 (.763 winning percentage) this season in one-run games.
That is Buck Ball.
The wheels are turning and yesterday Showalter elected to go with veteran lefty Joe Saunders as tonight’s starter, even though Saunders is 0-6 here during his career with a 9.38 ERA. Yu Darvish starts for the Rangers.
“If you’re looking for pitchers with good numbers against the Texas Rangers, they’re hard to find,’’ Showalter said. “Regardless of who pitches, we’re going to have to pitch well and do some things out of the bullpen and swing the bat and catch the ball. It’s only one phase of the game, but it’s very important.”
Saunders didn’t want to know his numbers here, telling reporters, “I can imagine. I don’t care. Tomorrow is a new day.”
Showalter will mix and match. The Orioles are 74-0 when leading after seven innings this season.
These are good times again in Baltimore, noted Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer.
“The Ravens have a good ballclub. It’s been a football town for too long, but it’s nice that we can share some of the excellence of play,” Palmer said. It could be over in a day or you could be playing the Yankees again. I would rather see the Orioles play in Texas. Nothing against the Rangers, but we’re a fly-ball hitting team.’’
Home runs fly here and the Orioles have hit 214 this season. Only the Yankees have hit more with 245.
Texas’ manager Ron Washington is under pressure because of the collapse in the World Series last season and his team’s collapse this season, including the loss Wednesday to Oakland. Of those losses, Washington said, “We didn’t pitch well enough to win. It’s about pitching.”
After 93 wins, one team is going home. “Our guys are ready,’’ Showalter promised. “This is a challenge. But we feel real good about the opportunity we have earned. It’s there for us.’’
Showalter will pull out all the stops tonight. If the Orioles keep this game close, the Buck is not stopping here.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com