Rockies & Cubs could clinch divisions on Saturday

Dodgers could clinch a Wild Card berth, too

Sep 29, 2018, 12:00 PM UTC

Photo by Joe Mahoney/Getty Images

We could see some champagne popping on Saturday as the MLB postseason picture begins to clear up. On the penultimate day of the regular season schedule, the playoff-bound Colorado Rockies could clinch the National League West and the Chicago Cubs might do the same in the National League Central.

With a win over the Washington Nationals on Friday — the eighth straight victory for Colorado — the Rockies have clinched at least a playoff spot. They also remain in the driver’s seat for their first division title in club history with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West with just two games to play.

Colorado’s magic number to clinch the division is down to just two, meaning they win the NL West on Saturday with a win over Washington and a Dodgers loss to San Francisco.

The Cubs on Friday won their third straight game, beating the St. Louis Cardinals to maintain a one-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the division, with two to play. Chicago can clinch the division on Saturday with another win over St. Louis and a loss by the Brewers, who are home facing the Detroit Tigers.

The loss on Friday crippled the Cardinals’ playoff chances, now two games back of the Dodgers for the second Wild Card spot.

The Dodgers can clinch a playoff berth as early as Saturday with a win over San Francisco or a Cardinals loss to the Cubs.

“We want to win our way into the postseason,” Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said. “We don’t want to rely on someone else losing to get us in.”

But a Wild Card would be a disappointment for the Dodgers, who have won the previous five NL West titles and led the Rockies by 2½ games with 10 days left in the regular season.

“The key is to get into the postseason and play it out. We’re still in a good spot for that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday night. “We’re playing playoff baseball, and that’s our focus. To play desperation mode, I’m okay with that.”

Any potential tiebreakers would be played on Monday, MLB announced. If there is just one game (Brewers-Cubs, Rockies-Dodgers or Dodgers-Cardinals) it would be played at 4:09 p.m. ET on Monday. If there are two tiebreaker games needed, Brewers-Cubs would start at 1:05 p.m., with the second game at 4:09 p.m.