:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50958599/72222789.0.jpg)
With the Cardinals and Giants win on Tuesday coupled with the Mets loss, the three teams have all moved into a three-way tie for two wild card spots.
But what if the season ended with the three teams still tied? Per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle:
If the season ended today, based on tiebreak rules, the Cardinals would get first choice and likely would host the first game. The Mets then would decide if they wanted to travel to St. Louis for one of two possible games or sit back and play the loser of a Giants-Mets game at Citi Field, winner take all.
And per Mark Saxon of ESPN:
Just for argument's sake, if the teams were to stay jammed up like this 11 games from now, the likeliest scenario would be a Mets-Cardinals game at Busch Stadium on Oct. 3. The winner of that game would host the Oct. 5 wild-card game. The loser of the tiebreaker would travel to San Francisco with another chance to advance.
So the Cardinals own the tiebreaker of the three teams, then the Mets own the tiebreaker over the Giants. The Cardinals could ultimately play two extra games before the Wild Card play in game even begins.
This brings up an interesting question, though. Say you were the Mets: would you rather play the Cardinals knowing that if you lost you still had another chance to advance by beating the Giants or would you rather let the Giants face off against the Cardinals and then play the winner in a winner take all game? The former involves two games which might be nice do to all the strange things that can happen in one game, however playing just one game allows for the team to start its best pitcher, right? It is an interesting choice.
Chaos is fun and all, but after all that this writer just hopes the Birdos can win outright.
Giants need Bumgarner to be less confrontational, plus tiebreakers, lineups | San Francisco Chronicle
what else is going on in baseball...
- Mookie Betts powers Red Sox past Orioles | MLB.com
- Marco Estrada leads Blue Jays' win vs Mariners | MLB.com
- Texas' magic No. 3 after walk-off, M's loss | MLB.com
- Top 10 rookies with best long-term futures | MLB.com
- Giancarlo Stanton sent a ball into orbit and a Marlins fan (with a glove) somehow caught it | MLB.com
- NERD Game Scores: Commence NL Wild-Card Thunderdome | FanGraphs Baseball
- Mike Trout and the Need for Logical Consistency | FanGraphs Baseball
- The Red Sox Are Basically Last Year’s Blue Jays | FanGraphs Baseball
- Weak Contact and the National League Cy Young Race | FanGraphs Baseball
- Clay Buchholz on Evolving | FanGraphs Baseball
- Baseball needs to adopt the loan system | DRaysBay
- Orioles’ Trey Mancini launches HR in MLB debut to the delight of his family | SBNation.com
- Bryce Harper is playing hurt, unless he’s not | SBNation.com
- The Man. The Voice. The Stories. | ESPN
what the cardinals are up to...
- Cardinals move into tie for 2nd NL Wild Card | MLB.com
- St. Louis Cardinals' fortunes flip in a span of 72 hours | St Louis Cardinals | ESPN
- San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets wild card NL | SweetSpot | ESPN
- Luke Weaver, another St. Louis Cardinals rookie thrown into the fire | St Louis Cardinals | ESPN
- Cardinals notebook: Another new experience for Weaver | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
- Quick Hits: Derrick Goold on the Cardinals | Derrick Goold: Bird Land | stltoday.com
- Daily Bernie: September 20 - Do You Trust Martinez Like You've Trusted Carpenter and Wainwright? | 101Sports.com
KNOW THINE ENEMY...
the colorado rockies
- Jorge De La Rosa gets hit hard in final start, Rockies fall 10-5 | Purple Row
- A Colorado Rockies Community | Purple Row
the new york metropolitans
- Tim Tebow participates in instructional league | mets.com
- Mets continue to fight despite a myriad of injuries. | Sports on Earth
- Bottom-feeding Braves give Mets more than they can handle—again | Amazin' Avenue
- A New York Mets Community | Amazin' Avenue
the san francisco giants
- Dodgers beat Giants, cut magic number to 7 | MLB.com
- Eduardo Nunez runs wild vs. Clayton Kershaw | sfgiants.com
- The Giants are collapsing in a way that baseball has never seen | McCovey Chronicles
- Giants need Bumgarner to be less confrontational, plus tiebreakers, lineups | San Francisco Chronicle
- Giants win, 2-0, behind perfect bullpen | McCovey Chronicles
- Dodgers unveil new Madison Bumgarner-mocking "Don't look at me" shirts | McCovey Chronicles
- A San Francisco Giants Community | McCovey Chronicles
the nl central