That’s it: we are at games #162 in major league baseball. Everyone will finish their season today (even the Marlins and Mets) and only 12 lucky people will continue.
And what’s a shame, for the MLB, is that the 12 teams who will dance in October are already decided this Sunday noon.
The stakes will therefore not be the greatest today… but at least we do not yet know any of the four duels wild card.
So here’s what we need to watch for for each team today.
Orioles (101 wins) : The club will not play again until next Saturday. Baltimore is guaranteed to finish atop the American and have home-field advantage against everyone… except the Braves.
The Rays, Astros, Rangers and Blue Jays are Division Series possibilities, but not the Twins. There’s nothing the Orioles can do about it right now.
Rays (98) : Nothing to watch for them – unless they finish with 99 wins like the Dodgers and the latter meet in the World Series.
Actually, that’s not true: They’ll see if the Blue Jays (the most likely scenario), Astros or Rangers are in town on Tuesday. And they face the Jays, in fact.
Twins (87) : They will play for nothing today since no one can change their home field advantage in the American or in the National – in the event of a World Series.
It’s out of their control, but they don’t know yet who will be in town on Tuesday. It will either be the Astros (five out of eight chances) or the Blue Jays.
Rangers (90) : Winning a 90th game to try to have more than the Phillies (and as many as the Brewers) would be interesting, but above all it would mean that the club would have won its division.
An Astros win and a Rangers loss would give the Astros the division title and force the Rangers to face the Rays on Tuesday instead of having this week off.
Astros (89) : If the Astros lose, they will face the Minnesota Twins. If everyone wins, the rankings will not move and they will face the Twins.
They still have a chance to face the Rays or even win their division, but nothing is done.
Blue Jays (89) : Just like the Astros, Toronto has 89 wins. Finishing ahead of the Phillies (also 89 wins) is not the biggest issue at the moment since the club does not have the lead in the World Series.
To avoid the Rays and face the Twins, the Jays will have to lose and see the Astros win… or see the Astros win their division.
Braves (104) : No one is going to join the Braves. It’s not complicated.
Next Saturday, the Braves will receive a visit from either the Phillies, Marlins or Diamondbacks. The Dodgers and Brewers are on opposite sides of the bracket.
Dodgers (99) : A victory would bring the club to 100 wins and secure home field advantage in the World Series against Tampa, if necessary. But otherwise?
The club is guaranteed to play at home on Saturday and avoid matches wild card. We’ll see if the Brewers, Diamondbacks or Marlins will be visiting.
Brewers (91) : If the Rangers win today, they will have 91 wins too, which could affect a potential World Series. But otherwise, today’s game means nothing for Milwaukee.
On Tuesday, the Marlins or DBacks will be in town.
Phillies (89) : Joining the Rangers at 90 wins and overtaking the Astros as well as the Blue Jays (89 each) can be a challenge, but hey: their place as best wild card is assured.
They’ll see if they get a visit from the Marlins or Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
Diamondbacks (84) : To get past the Marlins and face the Phillies instead of the Brewers, Arizona would have to win and see Miami lose.
It won’t be easy.
Marlins (84 wins in 160 games) : The Marlins should not return to play in New York on Monday to finish their game of the last days, now that they are in the playoffs.
A win today would ensure the club plays the Phillies and finishes in fifth place.
Note that all matches will be at 3 p.m. (Eastern time) today, so that it is fair for everyone.
Here is today’s schedule. Note that the pitchers’ matchups are not all good.
Monday will be off (since the Marlins and Mets will not play) and Tuesday will be the start of the series. There will therefore be four matches on the menu.
We are still waiting for the official schedule to be released with the times. It shouldn’t be long.
