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As of this writing we have 8 of 15 games scheduled for Sunday that will have some meaning whether it be for Wildcard or homefield. How many will matter on Sunday: 5 or fewer or 6 or more??
Currently, the games of importance on Sunday:
Marlins @ Nats. What's at stake? Homefield in the NLDS series vs. the Dodgers for the Nats. Though with a magic number of 1 and the Nats currently leading 2-0 and the Dodgers losing 1-0, this game probably won't matter. In order for the Nats to open in LA they need to lose twice and the Dodgers need to win twice.
Pirates @ Cardinals. What's at stake? A potential tiebreaker game for St. Louis. The Cardinals currently have a tragic number of 2, and got a reprieve from the stellar work of the bullpen after Wacha only gave them 1 inning in his start this afternoon. If the Giants beat the Dodgers the Cardinals will stay at 1 back and need to win and have San Fran lose to force a playoff; if the Giants win, they need a win or Cardinals loss Sunday to get the 2nd Wildcard.
Indians @ Royals. What's at stake: Homefield in the ALDS series vs. the Red Sox for the Indians. Indians lose the tiebreaker, so they have to hope Boston loses at least 1 of 2 vs. Toronto , while the Indians sweep the Royals to play that extra game Monday in Detroit. Indians can lose 1, but then they'd need Boston to lose 2. They are even in the loss column, so as long as Boston has 1 more loss by Sunday, they'd play on Monday for Cleveland to make up the half game. Note: If Indians finish 2-0 and Red Sox finish 0-2 that Monday game would be uncessary for the Indians since they'd be 1.5 up on the Red Sox but could still mean something for Detroit if they win final 2 games vs. Atlanta.
Blue Jays @ Red Sox. What's at stake? Homefield for the Red Sox in the ALDS series vs. the Indians and a potential Wildcard bid for the Jays. Lots of scenarios for the Jays to back in, but the simpliest is to just win both games. If they win both games they'll clinch no worse than a tiebreaker game against Detroit, if Detroit loses 1 of 2 to Atlanta, or the makeup game in Cleveland they'll win the Wildcard without having to play the playoff game against Detroit.
Tigers @ Braves. What's at stake? Tigers playing for a Wildcard spot. They win both games in Atlanta they'll guarantee themselves the Monday game against Cleveland, they win that game worst that can happen is them playing in the 1 game playoff.
Orioles @ Yankees. What's at stake? Orioles looking to lock up a Wildcard spot, and looking to lock up home field in that Wildcard game.
Dodgers @ Giants. What's at stake? Dodgers homefield advantage in their NLDS series vs. the Nationals, Giants looking to lock up the second Wildcard and a trip cross country to Queens to take on the Mets.
A's @ Mariners. What's at stake? Mariners still need some help, but the September Jays doldrums have given the Mariners life. With a tragic number of 2 they just need that number to not reach 0 which can be done a number of ways. 2 Blue Jays wins, 2 Mariners losses or 1 Jays win coupled with 1 Mariners loss would eliminate the Mariners from consideration, and that doesn't even factor the Tigers into that equation.
I am going with 6 or more that have meaningful impact on the playoffs Sunday: Only game I think won't have any meaning on Sunday will be Nationals/Marlins while the other 7 have impact in some way or another.
As of this writing we have 8 of 15 games scheduled for Sunday that will have some meaning whether it be for Wildcard or homefield. How many will matter on Sunday: 5 or fewer or 6 or more??
Currently, the games of importance on Sunday:
Marlins @ Nats. What's at stake? Homefield in the NLDS series vs. the Dodgers for the Nats. Though with a magic number of 1 and the Nats currently leading 2-0 and the Dodgers losing 1-0, this game probably won't matter. In order for the Nats to open in LA they need to lose twice and the Dodgers need to win twice.
Pirates @ Cardinals. What's at stake? A potential tiebreaker game for St. Louis. The Cardinals currently have a tragic number of 2, and got a reprieve from the stellar work of the bullpen after Wacha only gave them 1 inning in his start this afternoon. If the Giants beat the Dodgers the Cardinals will stay at 1 back and need to win and have San Fran lose to force a playoff; if the Giants win, they need a win or Cardinals loss Sunday to get the 2nd Wildcard.
Indians @ Royals. What's at stake: Homefield in the ALDS series vs. the Red Sox for the Indians. Indians lose the tiebreaker, so they have to hope Boston loses at least 1 of 2 vs. Toronto , while the Indians sweep the Royals to play that extra game Monday in Detroit. Indians can lose 1, but then they'd need Boston to lose 2. They are even in the loss column, so as long as Boston has 1 more loss by Sunday, they'd play on Monday for Cleveland to make up the half game. Note: If Indians finish 2-0 and Red Sox finish 0-2 that Monday game would be uncessary for the Indians since they'd be 1.5 up on the Red Sox but could still mean something for Detroit if they win final 2 games vs. Atlanta.
Blue Jays @ Red Sox. What's at stake? Homefield for the Red Sox in the ALDS series vs. the Indians and a potential Wildcard bid for the Jays. Lots of scenarios for the Jays to back in, but the simpliest is to just win both games. If they win both games they'll clinch no worse than a tiebreaker game against Detroit, if Detroit loses 1 of 2 to Atlanta, or the makeup game in Cleveland they'll win the Wildcard without having to play the playoff game against Detroit.
Tigers @ Braves. What's at stake? Tigers playing for a Wildcard spot. They win both games in Atlanta they'll guarantee themselves the Monday game against Cleveland, they win that game worst that can happen is them playing in the 1 game playoff.
Orioles @ Yankees. What's at stake? Orioles looking to lock up a Wildcard spot, and looking to lock up home field in that Wildcard game.
Dodgers @ Giants. What's at stake? Dodgers homefield advantage in their NLDS series vs. the Nationals, Giants looking to lock up the second Wildcard and a trip cross country to Queens to take on the Mets.
A's @ Mariners. What's at stake? Mariners still need some help, but the September Jays doldrums have given the Mariners life. With a tragic number of 2 they just need that number to not reach 0 which can be done a number of ways. 2 Blue Jays wins, 2 Mariners losses or 1 Jays win coupled with 1 Mariners loss would eliminate the Mariners from consideration, and that doesn't even factor the Tigers into that equation.
I am going with 6 or more that have meaningful impact on the playoffs Sunday: Only game I think won't have any meaning on Sunday will be Nationals/Marlins while the other 7 have impact in some way or another.
Great job, but it tires me just thinking of all that. LOL!
Gotta hand it to the Giants Ty Blach today. This was Blach's second start in the majors, he had also appeared twice in relief. Going up against Clayton Kershaw in what represented the most critical game of the season to this point, Blach threw 8 shutout innings, 3 singles and a walk, struck out 6. Kershaw went seven innings, gave up 3 runs although only one of them was earned, he gave up 6 hits, one an Angel Pagan home run, walked one and fanned four.
And if that wasn't enough, Blach also went 2 for 3 at the plate..against Kershaw.
Welp, Detroit loses to Atlanta. A Toronto win clinches at least a tiebreaker game Monday. Stephen Vogt just singled to get the A's on the board they have runners on first & 2nd 1 out down 2-1 in the 3rd. Toronto has yet ANOTHER blown save as the Red Six tie the game in the 8th inning on a balk call with Betts at 3rd. A's just took the lead on back to doubles to go up 4-2
Welp, Detroit loses to Atlanta. A Toronto win clinches at least a tiebreaker game Monday.
Seattle and Toronto are still playing as I type. At this point it is still possible that those two teams, along with Baltimore and Seattle, could all wind up at 88-74. Anyone know how such a situation would be resolved? Could one of those four be acknowledged as the # 1 Wild Card based on any tie breakers? Would they just pair em up for two games and the two survivors are the wild cards?
Seattle and Toronto are still playing as I type. At this point it is still possible that those two teams, along with Baltimore and Seattle, could all wind up at 88-74. Anyone know how such a situation would be resolved? Could one of those four be acknowledged as the # 1 Wild Card based on any tie breakers? Would they just pair em up for two games and the two survivors are the wild cards?
All I know is that 2 teams would play at home against the other 2, and the 2 winners would be Wildcards 1 & 2 and would play in the actual "wildcard" game. I know the Jays will own tiebreakers over all of the others so they'd be one of the 2 home teams. I think the other home team would be Baltimore but not sure. Of the 2 remaining left I think Seattle gets the first choice about which team (Jays, Baltimore) they'd rather play and Detroit goes on the road to the one that's left. This ESPN article talks about 4 way ties but it has the Astros as one of the 4, not the Mariners, but I'm pretty sure the Orioles would get bumped up 1 and the Mariners would go in the position the Orioles were in on the article:
The Blue Jays went ahead with a sac fly in the top of the 9th and held on for the win. So they are tied once more with Baltimore at 88 wins.
The Tigers lost, so they would need the above two clubs to lose tomorrow while Detroit wins, and then wins the make up game on Monday. That would create a 3 way tie.
Seattle is trailing Oakland 5-2 in the bottom of the 5th. If they lose, they are eliminated. Of course these are the A's and all year long they have proven themselves creative at finding ways to blow leads and lose games. The Mariners would then need to win tomorrow while the Jays and O's lose.
So the primary result of play today is that three teams, the Giants, the Jays and the Orioles, all know that their seasons cannot end tomorrow. All have clinched at least a tie for wild card spot. The Mets have clinched one of the NL spots.
That's depressing for a Mariners fan. Of course the Mariners did it to themselves. They only finished 11-8 against the 73-88 Angels and a dismal 2-4 against the 100+ loss Twins. Had they even finished 3-3 against the Twins (which would still be bad) they'd be 1 back with 1 to play to at least give themselves a chance. If they were 4-2 which would've been OK, they'd be tied with the Orioles & Jays. Had they finished 5-1 against the Twins they would still be playing after Sunday as they would be guaranteed no worse than a tiebreaker game.
From the earlier poll, 6 games have importance tomorrow: Jays/red Sox, Indians/Royals, Pirates/Cardinals, Tigers/Braves, Dodgers/Giants, Orioles/Yankees.
Clinching scenario's from what I can tell. To have a Monday game in the NL: Cardinals win and a Giants loss gives us Giants @ Cardinals Monday for the right to face the Mets.
In the AL we've got a couple different scenario's for getting an AL game Monday. IF the Indians AND Red Sox BOTH have the same result (i.e. both win or both lose) we would have Cleveland @ Detroit on Monday for the 2nd home field advantage. Detroit can force a playoff game with a win in Atlanta and EITHER Baltimore or Toronto losing. Baltimore will open on the road unless they win @ the Yankees and the Jays lose to Boston. If they finish tied by themselves the game will be in Toronto since the Jays own the tiebreaker with the 10-9 season series record.
Of games of importance I'd rate: Jays/Red Sox #1, Dodgers/Giants #2 and Pirates/Cards #3. Get ready for some exciting 3-3.5 hours of baseball, and even better with all 15 games starting at or around the same time!
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