Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – The Playoff Races vs. Weather
The sausage race in between innings during the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Oakland Athletics at Maryvale Baseball Park in Spring 2014. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Standings Updates Around the Majors
The National League races are all but set now. The Cubs need to win both remaining games and the Pirates lost both to flip the location of the Wild Card game to Chicago… so figure that for Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh.
One matter remains to be resolved. The Mets have managed to seize defeat from the jaws of victory, and are now in the position of having to fly to Los Angeles to being their NLDS matchup. New York has lost 3 straight – to the Phillies, no less – and are now a half-game behind Los Angeles for that home-field advantage.
They can reclaim that: the Mets own the tie-breaker, but now have to play the Nationals 3 times this weekend – weather permitting – and it probably won’t. Hurricane Joaquin is going to stay well off shore, but it’s still enhancing the Nor’easter that’s bringing a deluge to the East Coast.
Some games may end up being canceled all together this weekend. The Mets series with Washington needs to be played, though, and that’s going to be tricky to get done over the next couple of days, though that could be extended into Tuesday if necessary since no Wild Card games would be implicated.
Meanwhile, in the AL
Toronto is tied with Kansas City for best overall record. The Jays own this tie-breaker, so KC still has work to do.
The Royals have all but eliminated the Twins now, but still have to beat them to have a shot at passing Toronto, who plays the Rays.
Technically, Texas should have won the West – the best the Astros can do is a tie, and the Rangers own the tie-breaker. However, in the rules, a 163rd game is required, and this would take place in Arlington if required.
The Astros have to beat Arizona once more to guarantee themselves at least a tie-breaker game with the Angels. The Angels (facing the Rangers) must win today and tomorrow or win one and hope the Astros lose both.
The Twins need a lot of help: they have to win out and hope that neither the Astros or Angels get to 86 wins… a tall order indeed. Their elimination number is 1.
Any tie-breaker games to be played would be contested on Monday among the 2 or 3 teams that could still be involved. Winner of that scrum faces the Yankees in New York on Tuesday… hopefully a dry city by then.
The Wild card winner faces the team with the best record – be that Toronto or Kansas City. Texas (probably) will face the 2nd club.
Draft Pick Races
Cincinnati seems destined to finish 0-15, which could get them the #1 overall pick (Philly owns the tie-break here, though). Right now, they are separated by just a half game (Philly has 3 to play vs. the Marlins… though 1 or more games could be canceled due to weather).
The Atlanta Braves will seal the 3rd overall pick with either a loss or a Colorado win. Atlanta owns the tie-breaker with Oakland (currently 5th), but not with Colorado (4th).
The final “protected” draft pick is currently in a tie between Seattle and the Chicago White Sox, and the Sox hold the 10th spot due to the tie-breaker rule (worse record from the previous season’s play).