It all comes down to this.
Sunday marks the final day of Major League Baseball’s regular season, but there is more drama left to unfold before the playoffs begin. Two division titles are still up for grabs, as is the final National League playoff spot.
Here is what is at stake on the final day of the regular season.
Mets and Reds fighting for the final playoff spot
Eleven of the 12 playoff tickets have been secured, including all six in the American League.
In the National League, however, two teams are left fighting for the final Wild Card Spot.
In one corner, you have the New York Mets, owners of one of the league’s biggest payrolls, with an 84-78 record.
In the other sit the Cincinnati Reds, with a payroll the fraction of New York’s. The Reds have the same record as New York and hold a significant advantage.
Cincinnati won the season series between the two teams, meaning that if they finish with matching records, the Reds will move on, and the Mets will head home. New York needs a win combined with a Cincinnati loss to clinch a playoff spot, while the Reds will get in with either a win or a Mets’ loss.
The Mets play the Miami Marlins, while the Reds play the Milwaukee Brewers. Both games begin just after 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
Guardians and Tigers battling for AL Central supremacy
Yesterday saw both the Cleveland Guardians and the Detroit Tigers clinch playoff spots, with the Tigers knocking off the Boston Red Sox and the Guardians getting a walk-off HBP to defeat the Texas Rangers.
However, the winner of the AL Central has yet to be decided.
Both teams have a matching 87-74 record entering the final day of play. With Cleveland holding the tiebreaker advantage, the Guardians can clinch the division title with either a win over the Rangers, or a Tigers’ loss to the Red Sox.
Detroit needs a win over Boston and a Cleveland loss to win the division.
A division title would complete one of baseball’s greatest comebacks for Cleveland, who were 15.5 games back of Detroit in the division in early July. Even if the Guardians end up getting in as a Wild Card team, their late-season surge is an incredible comeback story.
Detroit plays Boston at Fenway Park while Cleveland hosts Texas, with both games getting underway just after 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
AL East and AL top seed up for grabs
With the final day of MLB games upon us, the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees are tied atop both the AL East and the American League itself.
The teams have matching 93-68 records, and with the Seattle Mariners entering play on Sunday with 90 wins, the winner of the AL East will have the top spot in the American League and homefield advantage through at least the ALCS.
Toronto has already clinched the tiebreaker over the Yankees due to winning the season series. That means that New York needs both a win today and a Toronto loss to win the AL East and claim the top seed.
The Blue Jays need either a win or a Yankees’ loss to take the division.
The Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles, while the Blue Jays host the Tampa Bay Rays, with both games beginning just after 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
