dropped the opener against the Guardians on Tuesday<\/a>, their seventh straight defeat, and fell into a tie in the AL Central with Cleveland. With the loss, Detroit also lost the tiebreaker against Cleveland. This team once had a 15.5-game lead in the division. Now it’s gone.<\/p>\nUp next: Two more games in Cleveland. Then Detroit finishes the regular season at the Red Sox, who currently hold the second AL wild-card spot.<\/p>\n
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Houston Astros<\/p>\n
The Astros just got swept by the Mariners to put the division title largely out of reach. They\u2019re now three games back of Seattle and fighting for the third wild card in the AL. Currently on the outside looking in, Houston will be sweating it out over the final week.<\/p>\n
Up next: The ‘Stros finish the season on the road but against teams that should hand them wins. They have two more against the A\u2019s before they visit the Angels for three games to conclude the regular season.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee Brewers<\/p>\n
The Brewers are cruising to the No. 1 seed in the National League and the best record in baseball. They\u2019ve already clinched the NL Central title.<\/p>\n
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Up next: The Brewers finish the season against NL wild-card contenders battling for their spots. First, they’re at the Padres for one more game Wednesday. Then they host the Reds for three to finish the regular season.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Phillies<\/p>\n
The Phillies have been one of the top teams in baseball all season, and they were the first to claim a division title, leaving the Mets in their wake as they won the NL East on Sept. 16. They\u2019re in line to claim the No. 2 seed in the National League and, with it, a bye to the division series. The magic number for a bye into the NLDS is 1.<\/p>\n
Up next: The Phillies finish the regular season at home against teams with nothing to play for. They host the Marlins for two more to start the week, followed by three against the Twins next weekend.<\/p>\n
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Los Angeles Dodgers<\/p>\n
The Dodgers are in line to win yet another NL West title, sitting 1.5 games up on the Padres with five games to play. They\u2019re in line to get the No. 3 seed and host a wild-card series.<\/p>\n
Up next: The Dodgers finish the season on the road against contenders. First, they visit the Diamondbacks for two more, and then they finish the regular season with three games in Seattle this weekend.<\/p>\n
Chicago Cubs<\/p>\n
The Cubs have already clinched their first postseason berth since 2020. Even though they have one of the top records in the sport, they\u2019ll claim a wild card and finish behind the Brewers in the NL Central. The Cubs are in line to get the No. 4 seed and hosting duties in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n
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Up next: The Cubs finish the regular season at Wrigley field, first hosting the wild-card-contending Mets during the week and then hosting the already eliminated Cardinals for three games this weekend.<\/p>\n
San Diego Padres<\/p>\n
The Padres currently hold the NL\u2019s second wild-card spot. They clinched their postseason spot on Monday. If the standings hold, San Diego will finish as the No. 5 seed and face the Cubs at Wrigley in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n
Up next: The Padres finish the season at home, first with one more game versus the Brewers. They end the season with three games versus the Diamondbacks, who could be fighting for that last wild-card berth.<\/p>\n
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New York Mets<\/p>\n
The Mets are nearing an egregious, late-season collapse, as they are just one game up on the Reds and Diamondbacks for the NL\u2019s final wild-card spot after losing 11 of their past 16 games. Cincinnati holds the tiebreaker based on head-to-head record, so the Mets have to finish ahead in the standings to make the postseason.<\/p>\n
Up next: The Mets finish the season on a road trip, facing the Cubs and Marlins. They might have to hope that the Cubs are more concerned with preparing for the playoffs than winning any more games. However, the Marlins might put up a fight with a chance to finish over .500.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Reds<\/p>\n
The Reds have won six of their past eight to capitalize on the Mets\u2019 slide and challenge them for the NL\u2019s final wild-card bid. With a 4-2 record against the Mets this season, Cincinnati holds the tiebreaker. Both teams need to win to stay ahead of the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n
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Up next: The Reds finish their home schedule with two more against the Pirates (and Paul Skenes scheduled to start Wednesday). Cincinnati then visits Milwaukee for a three-game set. The Brewers might’ve clinched the NL\u2019s best record by then and thus have nothing left to play for.<\/p>\n
Arizona Diamondbacks<\/p>\n
Lurking just behind the Mets and tied with the Reds in the wild-card standings are the D-backs, who could seize the NL\u2019s final playoff spot if the teams ahead of them falter. Arizona has won seven of its past 10 games to put itself in position to earn a surprise postseason bid.<\/p>\n
Up next: Perhaps no team has a more difficult final slate than the D-backs. First, they host the Dodgers for their final two home games. Then they close out the season with three games at San Diego.<\/p>\n
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What else is up for grabs?<\/p>\n
The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in each league go to the division winners with the two best records. Those teams earn a bye through the wild-card round and hosting rights in the division series. Currently, the Brewers, Phillies, Mariners and Blue Jays are in line to claim those byes.<\/p>\n
The No. 3 seed goes to the third division winner, and that team will host the three-game wild-card series against the No. 6 seed (which goes to the third wild card). The top wild-card team will earn the No. 4 seed and host the No. 5 seed (the second wild card) in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n
The higher seed also gets home-field advantage in the championship series, once we get that far.<\/p>\n
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What are the tiebreakers?<\/p>\n
No longer do teams play a Game 163 if they finish the season tied. Instead, tiebreakers are determined by head-to-head records first and, if needed, intradivision records second.<\/p>\n
Here are the tiebreakers that could come into play:<\/p>\n
The Blue Jays have clinched the tiebreaker against the Red Sox, Yankees and Tigers.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox have clinched the tiebreaker against the Yankees.<\/p>\n
The Tigers have clinched the tiebreaker against the Astros.<\/p>\n
The Guardians have clinched the tiebreaker against the Astros and Tigers.<\/p>\n
The Astros have clinched the tiebreaker against the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
The Mariners have clinched the tiebreaker against the Tigers and Astros.<\/p>\n
The Mets have clinched the tiebreaker against the Phillies and Padres.<\/p>\n
The Phillies have clinched the tiebreaker against the Dodgers.<\/p>\n
The Brewers have clinched the tiebreaker against the Phillies.<\/p>\n
The Cubs have clinched the tiebreaker against the Brewers.<\/p>\n
The Reds have clinched the tiebreaker against the Mets.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers have clinched the tiebreaker against the Padres.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the schedule for the postseason?Wild-card series (best of three)<\/p>\n
Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 30
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 1
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 2*<\/p>\n
Division series (best of five)<\/p>\n
ALDS<\/p>\n
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8*
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10*<\/p>\n
NLDS<\/p>\n
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 6
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 8
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 9*
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 11*<\/p>\n
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Championship series (best of seven)<\/p>\n
ALCS<\/p>\n
Game 1: Sunday, Oct 12
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 15
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 17*
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 19*
Game 7: Monday, Oct. 20*<\/p>\n
NLCS<\/p>\n
Game 1: Monday, Oct 13
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 14
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 17
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 18*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 20*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 21*<\/p>\n
World Series (best of seven)<\/p>\n
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28
Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29*
Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31*
Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1*<\/p>\n
(*if necessary)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The MLB postseason is a week away, and every team with World Series aspirations still has a lot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[5146,64,63,12642,5131,16089,10027,5258,5128,5260,7809,5138,5141,591,107381,1830,5135,5147,5137,5133,108738,2274,16088,13506,5886,5162,85,3370,48293,10215,76656,23871,92227,6114],"class_list":["post-165356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-astros","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-blue-jays","tag-brewers","tag-cardinals","tag-cincinnati","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-cubs","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-diamondbacks","tag-dodgers","tag-marlins","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-postseason","tag-new-york-mets","tag-padres","tag-paul-skenes","tag-phillies","tag-pirates","tag-postseason-spot","tag-rays","tag-red-sox","tag-reds","tag-san-diego","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports","tag-texas","tag-the-blue-jays","tag-the-dodgers","tag-the-mariners","tag-white-sox","tag-wild-card","tag-yankees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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