None of the six divisional races in baseball were close this year. But the wild-card races look to be going right down to the wire.
None of the six divisional races in baseball were close this year. But the wild-card races look to be going right down to the wire.
The close battles raise the possibility that 162 games will not be enough to separate the teams and that a tiebreaker will be needed for the first time since 2013. The race in the National League is so close that it might produce something never before seen in Major League Baseball: a three-way playoff.
Should only two teams be tied for the last wild-card spot when the season ends Sunday, the resolution is fairly straightforward. They would play a single game, which would be considered the 163rd of the regular season, on Monday night, with the home team determined by the head-to-head record of the two teams. Such a situation last occurred when the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers in 2013 for the right to face the American League’s other wild-card team, the Cleveland Indians, in the playoffs.
There have been 14 tiebreaker playoffs in baseball, beginning in 1946 when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in what was then a best-of-three series to take the National League pennant.
The Toronto Blue Jays beat Baltimore, 5-1, on Tuesday and opened a two-game lead over the Orioles for the first wild-card spot in the American League. The Orioles still have a one-game edge for the second spot.
The NL race is more volatile. The New York Mets routed Miami, 12-1, on Tuesday to maintain at least a half-game advantage over the San Francisco Giants, who played later, for the top wild-card spot. The St. Louis Cardinals entered Tuesday a game behind the Giants. Although a long shot, a three-way tie for the two wild-card spots is possible.
If it happens, the teams will have to be ranked. The first criterion is head-to-head record. This falls in favor of the Mets and the Cardinals, who each hold a 4-3 record against the Giants, so they would play first, probably Monday. The winner would make the playoffs, but the loser would get another chance and play the Giants in San Francisco, probably Tuesday. The winners of the two games would then meet Wednesday in the real wild-card game..
There are a couple of complications, even if this playoff is needed. The host of a Mets-Cardinals game is still to be determined because the teams have gone 3-3 against each other. The next tiebreaker is divisional record, so the last few regular-season games will determine which team ranks higher.
For the record, the top-ranked team actually has a choice of whether it plays in the Monday game or waits until Tuesday. But no team is likely to choose one chance at the playoffs, as the Giants would get, rather than two.
The traveling complications might be as tangled as the playoff rules. In theory, the Mets could play four games in three cities in four nights: Sunday at Philadelphia (regular season), Monday at St. Louis and Tuesday at San Francisco (tiebreaker games), and Wednesday at St. Louis (wild-card game).
And the prize, should the Mets get through this gantlet? A series against the juggernaut Chicago Cubs.