We’ve got three games left per team in the 2018 regular season (four if you’re the Orioles and Astros, as they have a doubleheader on Saturday). Most of the postseason questions are wrapped up already, but we’ve got a few left to answer heading into this final weekend.
Here’s what’s at stake during MLB’s final weekend
The close of the regular season is upon us, and MLB still has loose ends to tie up before the postseason begins.
Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
In the American League, all that’s left to sort out is which team will host the AL Wild Card Game: will it be the Yankees or the A’s? We already know the Red Sox will face the winner of that game in the ALDS, while the Astros will take on the Indians, but whether the Wild Card Game will be played in Oakland or New York is still up in the air.
The Yankees are 98-61, two games up on the A’s for the top wild card and homefield advantage in the Wild Card Game, but they have to face the MLB win leaders, the Red Sox, for their final three games. Boston might not be putting out their fully powered lineup or pushing their starters too much this weekend, and they also might not utilize their best relievers much, in the hopes of giving them all a little bit of a break before what they hope is a deep October run. That gives the Yankees more of a chance to win than they already had, and given New York is two wins shy of making some MLB history already, it’s not like they needed any help to pick up an extra W or two.
The A’s have things a little easier in terms of opponent, as they’ll wrap 2018 against the sub-.500 Angels, but they’re also two games behind with just three to go, so they basically need to win out to even have a chance at tying. And if they do tie, they’ll have to use the second tiebreaker to determine homefield, as they went 3-3 against New York in the regular season. That’s intradivision record, and the Yankees win that one.
In the National League, it’s not even clear which teams are making the postseason at all. The Cubs and Brewers and Braves have all clinched spots, but only Atlanta has clinched their division. Chicago is just one game up on Milwaukee in the NL Central: the Brewers get the dismal Tigers to finish their season, while the Cubs have to play the Cardinals, who can’t win the Central but can still win a wild card.
So, the Brewers and Cubs are fighting to win the Central and avoid the NL Wild Card Game, while the Cardinals’ lone hope remains the second wild card. That wild card is currently held by the Dodgers, who have a one-game lead on the Cardinals, and are trailing the Rockies by one game in the NL West. The Rockies had an outside chance at winning the West or even winning the wild card barring a serious win streak just over a week ago after the Dodgers swept them, but hey, look at that, Colorado has won seven games in a row and jumped their postseason odds from 10.2 percent to 87.8 percent in a week’s time.
The Cardinals have to hope one of the Rockies or Dodgers falters this weekend, while at the same time they take care of business against the Cubs. The Rockies take on the Nats at home for these last three games, while the Dodgers face the Giants in a series that will include Madison Bumgarner’s final start of 2018.
The 2018 postseason chase hasn’t been overflowing with drama by any means, but there’s still a whole lot left to sort out over these last three days. And the possibility for some tiebreaker baseball on Monday to finalize it all stlll exists, which beats the alternative anytime.
- The Braves were the Barves not all that long ago, but they’ve left rock bottom behind in 2018. Here’s Grant Brisbee to tell you the fully story of Atlanta’s low point and rise since.
- Whitney McIntosh’s Mound Visits is wrapping up along with the 2018 regular season, so she’s doing her version of end of season awards.
- The Orioles would be bad even if the Red Sox hadn’t thoroughly dominated and embarrassed them throughout 2018. That performance against Boston, though, is what’s likely to make the Orioles a historically relevant kind of awfulinstead of the forgettable kind.
- Beanball wars are dumb and dangerous but CC Sabathia hitting an opponent in the leg despite knowing the decision would cost him $500,000, and then turning to the Rays dugout to scream at it after doing so, is actually pretty goddamn boss.
- Alex Speier tried to pinpoint just why Chris Sale’s velocity was diminished on Wednesday night.
- MLB is seeing a significant attendance decline, and it’s probably not just weather-related like Rob Manfred keeps suggesting.
- A federal grand jury is investigating MLB’s international deals, and while details are scarce, this is likely to blossom into something much bigger.
- This profile on Anthony Rendon automatically made him one of the most intriguing people in MLB.
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