There will be a lot of drama Sunday, the final day of baseball’s 60-game season unless …
Things are so tight in the National League Central that the St. Louis Cardinals may have to play at least one and maybe two makeup games in Detroit on Monday to determine whether they’ll be in the postseason as a second-place team or as a Wild Card, or if they miss the cut.
Through play on Saturday, two of eight NL spots are still up for grabs and there are four teams in the running: the Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants.
The Cardinals and Brewers control their destiny. If they win on Sunday, they’re in. The Phillies need to win plus have the Brewers and Giants lose. The Giants need a win and a Brewers loss. Also, the Cardinals could avoid having to go to Detroit if they win and the Reds lose. That would clinch second place in the NL Central for the Cardinals.
On Saturday, the Chicago Cubs clinched the NL Central, the AL East-champion Tampa Bay Rays locked up the top seed in the AL and the Mets were eliminated from NL Wild Card contention.
The Cubs lost their game to the Chicago White Sox, but were crowned division champs with the Cardinals loss to the Brewers. The Rays sewed up the No. 1 seed when the Oakland Athletics lost Game 1 of their doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners. The Mets' longshot postseason hopes ended when they lost the opener of their twinbill with the Washington Nationals.
Here is a look at who would be playing whom in the Wild Card Series if the playoffs began today, plus magic numbers and remaining schedules:
(Ties will be broken in this order: 1. Head-to-head records (for teams in same division); 2. Division records; 3. Winning percentage for final 20 division games.
WILD CARD SERIES MATCHUPS IF PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto Blue Jays (8) at Tampa Bay Rays (1)
Cleveland Indians (7) at Minnesota Twins (2)
Houston Astros (6) at Oakland Athletics (3)
New York Yankees (5) at Chicago White Sox (4)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Francisco Giants (8) at Los Angeles Dodgers (1)
Cincinnati Reds (7) at Atlanta Braves (2)
Miami Marlins (6) at Chicago Cubs (3)
St. Louis Cardinals (5) at San Diego Padres (4)
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TEAM-BY-TEAM BREAKDOWN
AL EAST
TAMPA BAY RAYS (39-20)
Standings: First in AL East. Lead second-place Yankees by 6 games.
Division record: 27-13
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 17
Magic number to clinch AL East: Clinched Sept 23
Games remaining: 1 (1 home, 0 road)
Rays schedule:
Sept. 27: Philadelphia (1)
* * *
NEW YORK YANKEES (33-26)
Standings: Second in AL East. Lead second-place Blue Jays by 1 game.
Record vs. Blue Jays: 5-5 (1st tiebreaker with Blue Jays)
Division record: 23-17 (2nd tiebreaker with Blue Jays)
Last 20 Division games: 11-9 (3rd tiebreaker with Blue Jays)
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 20
Tiebreaker: Blue Jays over Yankees (last 20 division games).
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road)
Yankees schedule:
Sept. 27: Marlins (1)
* * *
TORONTO BLUE JAYS (32-27)
Standings: Third in AL East. Trail second-place Yankees by 1 game. Lead Angels by 5.5 games for second AL Wild Card.
Record vs. Yankees: 5-5 (1st tiebreaker with Yankees)
Division record: 22-17 (2nd tiebreaker with Yankees)
Last 20 division games if win Sunday: 13-7 (3rd tiebreaker with Yankees)
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 24
Tiebreaker: Blue Jays over Yankees (last 20 division games).
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road)
Blue Jays schedule:
Sept. 27: Baltimore at Buffalo (1)
* * *
AL CENTRAL
MINNESOTA TWINS (36-23)
Standings: First in AL Central. Lead second-place White Sox by 1 game.
Division record: 23-17
Record vs. White Sox: 5-5
Record vs. Indians: 7-3
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 19.
Magic number to clinch AL Central: 1
Tiebreaker: White Sox over Twins (divisional record).
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road)
Twins schedule:
Sept. 27: Reds (1)
* * *
CHICAGO WHITE SOX (35-24)
Standings: Second in AL Central. Trail first-place Twins by 1 game; lead third-place Indians by 1 game.
Division record: 25-15
Record vs. Twins: 5-5
Record vs. Indians: 2-8
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 17.
Tiebreakers: Indians over White Sox (head to head); White Sox over Twins (divisional record).
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road).
White Sox schedule:
Sept. 27: Cubs (1)
* * *
CLEVELAND INDIANS (34-25)
Standings: Third in AL Central. Trail first-place Twins by 2 games, trail second-place White Sox by 1 game.
Division record: 23-17
Record vs. White Sox: 8-2
Record vs. Twins: 3-7
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched on Sept. 22
Tiebreaker: Indians over White Sox (head to head)
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road)
Indians schedule:
Sept. 27: Pirates (1)
* * *
AL WEST
OAKLAND ATHLETICS (35-24)
Standings: First in AL West. Lead second-place Astros by 6 games.
Division record: 25-14
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 18
Magic number to clinch AL West: Clinched on Sept. 21
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road)
Athletics schedule:
Sept. 27: Mariners (1)
* * *
HOUSTON ASTROS (29-30)
Standings: Second in AL West. Lead third-place Mariners by 2 games.
Division record: 19-20
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 25
Remaining games: 1 (0 home, 1 road)
Astros schedule:
Sept. 27: at Rangers (1)
* * *
NL EAST
ATLANTA BRAVES (35-24)
Standings: First in NL East. Lead second-place Marlins by 5 games.
Division record: 24-16
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 22
Magic number to clinch NL East: Clinched Sept. 22
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road)
Braves schedule:
Sept. 27: Red Sox (1)
* * *
MIAMI MARLINS (30-29)
Standings: Second in NL East. Lead third-place Phillies by 2 games.
Division record: 21-19
Record vs. Phillies: 7-3
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 25
Remaining games: 1 (0 home, 1 road)
Marlins schedule:
Sept. 27: at Yankees (1)
* * *
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (28-31)
Standings: Third in NL East. Trail Brewers and Giants by 1 game for second NL Wild Card.
Division record: 21-19
Tiebreakers: Phillies over Giants (division record); Phillies over Brewers (division record).
Remaining games: 1 (0 home, 1 road)
Phillies schedule:
Sept. 27: at Rays (1)
* * *
NL CENTRAL
CHICAGO CUBS (33-26)
Standings: First in NL Central. Lead second-place Cardinals and Reds by 3 games.
Division record: 22-18
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 22
Magic number to clinch NL Central: Clinched Sept. 26
Remaining games: 1 (0 home, 1 road)
Cubs schedule:
Sept. 27: at White Sox (1)
* * *
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (29-28)
Standings: Tied for second in NL Central. Trail first-place Cubs by 3 games.
Division record: 21-18
Last 20 division games: 10-9 plus Sunday’s game counting as 20th
Record vs. Reds: 6-4
Record vs. Brewers: 4-5
Magic number to clinch playoffs: 1
Remaining games: 3 (1 home, 2 road).
Cardinals schedule:
Sept. 27: Brewers (1)
x-Sept. 28: at Detroit (2)
x-games will be played if they impact playoff races.
* * *
CINCINNATI REDS (30-29)
Standings: Tied for second in NL Central. Trail first-place Cubs by 3 games. Lead Brewers and Giants by 1 game for first NL Wild Card.
Division record: 21-19
Last 20 division games: 12-8
Record vs. Cardinals: 4-6
Record vs. Brewers: 6-4
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 25
Tiebreakers: Reds over Brewers (head to head); Cardinals/Brewers (to be determined).
Remaining games: 1 (0 home, 1 road)
Reds schedule:
Sept. 27: at Twins (1)
* * *
MILWAUKEE BREWERS (29-30)
Standings: Fourth in NL Central. Trail second-place Reds and Cardinals by 1 game; Tied with Giants for second NL Wild Card.
Division record: 19-20
Last 20 division games: 10-9 plus Sunday’s game counting as 20th
Record vs. Cardinals: 5-4
Record vs. Reds: 4-6
Magic number to clinch playoffs: 1
Tiebreakers: Brewers over Giants (division record); Phillies over Brewers (division record); Reds over Brewers (division record); Brewers/Cardinals (to be determined).
Remaining games: 1 (0 home, 1 road)
Brewers schedule:
Sept. 27: at Cardinals (1)
* * *
NL WEST
LOS ANGELES DODGERS (42-17)
Standings: First in NL West. Lead second-place Padres by 5 games.
Division record: 27-13
Magic number to clinch NL West: Clinched Sept. 22
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 16.
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road).
Dodgers schedule:
Sept. 27: Angels (1)
* * *
SAN DIEGO PADRES (36-23)
Standings: Second in NL West.
Division record: 23-16
Magic number to clinch playoffs: Clinched Sept. 20
Remaining games: 1 (0 home, 1 road).
Padres schedule:
Sept. 27: at Giants (1)
* * *
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (29-30)
Standings: Third in NL West. Tied with Brewers for second NL Wild Card.
Division record: 18-21
Magic number to clinch playoffs: 2
Tiebreakers: Phillies over Giants (division record); Brewers over Giants (division record).
Remaining games: 1 (1 home, 0 road).
Giants schedule:
Sept. 27: Padres (1)
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