In the marathon of the 162-game MLB season it’s now the final stretch with the finishing line in sight. With three games to play all the division winners have been crowned. Champagne corks have popped for the Yankees, Detroit, Texas, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Arizona who can now relax for just a few short days until the Division Series start next weekend. 

The Wild Card races? That’s another story.  Two playoff slots up for grabs, two collapses and two impossibly tight finishes.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Three games remain for both Boston and Tampa Bay with the Red Sox ahead by a single game lead in the standings. By rights, the Rays should have caught and passed their rivals already but have somehow conspired to go just 5-5 over their last 10 games. Perhaps neither of these teams really wants to go to the playoffs; it sure feels like it. For the last three days of the regular season the Rays will host the Yankees while Boston visit Baltimore. 

It’s not all about the AL East rivals; a mention also for the LA Angels, three games back with three to play, who could still qualify for a one-game playoff if they were to win their final three games and the Red Sox and Rays were to have a terrible, terrible few days.

With three teams involved the tiebreaker scenarios between Boston, Tampa Bay and LA are painfully complex so thanks to Roger Mooney for the lowdown: 

Major League Baseball announced scenarios for possible playoff games if there is two-team or even three-team tie for the American League wild card, and the Rays are the top seed in each.

If two teams are tied, a one-game playoff will be held Thursday. Because the Rays hold tiebreakers against the Red Sox and Angels, the game will be played at Tropicana Field.

The Rays hold the tiebreaker with the Red Sox because of their 12-6 record against them this season. The Rays and Angels split their eight games, so they go to the next tiebreaker, which is record within your division. The Rays have a better record against the AL East than the Angels do against the AL West.

A three-way tie will necessitate two playoff games — Thursday and Sept. 29 — and that’s where it becomes a bit complicated.

The Rays would be the top seed because they have a better combined record between the Red Sox and Angels. The Red Sox would be the second seed, the Angels the third seed.

The Rays would then have their choice between three plans, with the Red Sox picking second and the Angels getting what’s left.

Plan A: Get to play both games at home, providing you win Game 1.

Plan B: Play the first game on the road, win that and get the second game at home.

Plan C: Play the winner of Game 1, but do so on the road.

 (Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/other_mlb/view.bg?articleid=1368353&format=text)

An aside: would the Yankees take a dive to ensure Boston doesn’t make the postseason? That wouldn’t be the “Yankee Way”. But in purely practical terms if they want to rest some regulars who are a bit dinged up after a long six months of play then as division champs it’s their right and privilege to do so. They’ve already shut down CC Sabathia until the playoffs so their mindset is revealed. So, if Tex, Cano and Granderson ride some pine over the next few days one can expect the Boston media to have a collective coronary.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Over on the senior circuit things are, thankfully, a little more straightforward. It is a very similar situation though – a similarly tight race after a similar collapse but without the mind-numbing hysteria that accompanies the two giants from the northeast. The Atlanta Braves, once seemingly a lock for postseason play, are stumbling towards the finishing line with the St. Louis Cardinals chasing hard. 

The Braves’ problem is hitting. That is to say, they aren’t. The Braves are hitting .244 for the season with an MLB-worst .231 on the road. However, being one up with three to play means that they only need a single win to guarantee at least a tiebreaker playoff. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it would be on the road at Busch Stadium.

DIVISION SERIES

If there are no tiebreaker games then Thursday should be considered to be a welcome chance for the avid MLB tellywatcher to rest before the bleary-eyed insomnia of the playoffs. When all Wild Card and tiebreaker scenarios are sorted out, the division series will start this weekend with ESPN America pencilling in the first game in both of the ALDC matchups for Friday night. 

The matchups are still up in the air but the combinations boil down to the Yankees playing against the worse record of either Texas or Detroit, with the better record of the two playing against the Wild Card team (Boston/ Tampa Bay/LA). 

Just as the Yankees are the clear top seeds in the AL, so are the Phillies in the the NL. The matchups here depend on who finishes top of the Wild Card tussle between the Braves and Cardinals. If St. Louis come out on top they’ll go to Philly with the D-Backs playing the Brewers; if the Braves hold on then they’ll visit whoever has the better record between Miwaukee and Arizona while the Phillies will host the worse record of the two.

Yes, it’s confusing, but here at the DodderNews Towers we’re on top of the situation. Watch this space and the Twitter feed for TV updates as soon as they are available.

(N.B. the games to be shown on Wednesday night are yet to be announced.)

Full TV Schedule:

Monday Midnight: Philadelphia @ Atlanta (ESPN America)

Lee vs. Delgado

Tuesday Midnight: New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay (ESPN America)

Colon vs. Hellickson

Wednesday 1am TBD

4am: TBD

Thursday: NO GAMES…

Friday 11pm: ALDS Game 1

2.30am: ALDS Game 1

Saturday 6pm: ALDS/NLDS TBD

9.30pm: ALDS/NLDS TBD

1am: ALDS/NLDS TBD

Sunday 10pm: NLDS TBD

1.30am: NLDS TBD