NL Wild Card is becoming just that, wild! In the final day of the MLB regular season Sunday, three teams are still in the
hunt for an NL playoff spot, it can’t get much better than that.
With the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres battling it out for their NL West division title, the Atlanta Braves stay in the hunt as well, currently tied with San Diego for the Wild Card.
This weekend, the Padres have taken the first two of a three game series on the Giants home field to move within one game behind the Giants in the NL West. Meanwhile, the Braves have dropped two in a row at home against the Philadelphia Phillies, squandering an opportunity to lock the Wild Card and are currently tied with the Padres with identical 90-71 records.
Now here is the scenario that may create at least one Game 163 tie breaker game and possibly a rare Game 164! That is not as typo, we meant Game 164.
If the Giants and Braves both win, the Giants win the NL West and the Braves win the NL Wild Card spot. These teams will then met for a first round, best-of-five NL Division Series that will begin on the west coast in San Francisco on Thursday.
If the Braves and Padres both lose their final games on Sunday, the Giants take the NL West and the Padres will then travel to Atlanta for a tie breaker Game 163 on Monday that will determine the Wild Card.
If both the Braves and Padres win, the Giants play a one-game tiebreaker in San Diego on Monday with that game determining the NL West top spot. The loser of that game then travels to Atlanta on Tuesday for that Game 164 we mentioned earlier. This Game 164 would determine the Wild Card team for the NL.
The only scenario that will eliminate the need for a Game 163 tie breaker game is if the Padres win and the Braves lose. If that occurs, the Padres win the NL West and the Giants fall into the Wild Card spot.
Nuf’ said, play ball!
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