After six topsy-turvy, drama-filled months, we’re finally here: the final day of the regular season. Saturday was instrumental in settling the playoff picture around the league, but there are still some seeding questions to be decided — particularly in the AL, where the Rangers, Blue Jays and Astros could find themselves in any number of positions depending on how things go this afternoon. Here’s where the AL Wild Card picture stands entering Sunday, October 1.
AL Wild Card standings: Sunday, October 1
1st Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays — 98-63, +10.0 (clinched top spot)
2nd Wild Card: Toronto Blue Jays — 89-72, +1.0 (clinched playoff spot)
3rd Wild Card: Houston Astros — 89-72, — (clinched playoff spot)
Seattle Mariners — 87-74, 2.0 GB (eliminated)
Seattle’s loss to the Rangers on Saturday night — combined with the Astros’ win in Arizona over the Diamondbacks — officially eliminated the Mariners from both AL West and AL Wild Card contention. That means that we know which six teams will comprise the American League playoff bracket.
What we don’t know, however, is in which order those teams will finish. The Blue Jays dropped a game against a Rays team without much to play for on Saturday night, and in the process fell into a tie with Houston — a tie they wind up on the right side of thanks to winning the season series against the Astros, four games to three. That makes things pretty simple for Toronto on Sunday: Win, and they’re the fifth seed. Lose, and a Houston win moves the ‘Stros to the fifth spot and drops the Jays to sixth.
Unless, of course, Houston becomes AL West champions. The Rangers have a one-game lead on the Astros entering the day, but Houston won the season series and can still take the division with another win in Arizona and a Texas loss to the Mariners. Should those two results come to pass, the Astros would move up to the second seed, while the Rangers would drop down into the fifth Wild Card spot. (Toronto lost the season series to Texas, so even if the Jays win this afternoon, they would get bumped down to sixth with both teams finishing at 90-72.)
