I think it is saffe to say now: It's us or the Tigers for the 2nd wild card

[PolarVortex]

Just looking at the various playoff scenarios and making some assumptions.

If the Tigers go 11-11 over their last 22 and/or the Mariners go 12-11 over their last 23, the Yankees would have to go 17-7 to win the second wild card. The Blue Jays would have to go 17-6. The Indians would have to go 18-6. And while baseball history is littered with final month collapses and final month rises, it is still not very common.

The Tigers have a very tough 9 game homestand coming up with the Giants, Royals and Indians. The Mariners, meanwhile, have three road games in Texas, three home games versus Houston and three home games versus Oakland. The wild card could very well be determined in the next nine games.

After that, the schedule swings in Detriot's favor over the last 14 games. Detriot has:
3 @ Minnesota
3 @ KC
3 home versus White Sox
4 home versus Minnesota
So, 10 of their last 13 games are versus sub-.500 teams.

Seattle has:
4 @ LAA
3 @ Houston
4 @ Toronto
3 home versus LAA
So, 11 of Seattle last 14 games are versus teams over .500.

So, you can see how important the next 9 games are when they schedule is clearly in their favor. They need to not give any away and need to build at least a 2-game lead on Detriot. Otherwise, it isn't looking too good.

Having said that, Go Hawks!

 

[SeattleCoug]

I wouldn't necessarily say the A's are a lock for the wild card or that KC is a lock for the central. I could see the Royals or A's hitting a bad streak. Keep in mind we are only 3 behind the A's and 1.5 behind the Royals. I agree that the Yankees, Indians and Blue Jays are likely to far behind now. Likely the A's, M's, Tigers, Royals for 3 spots is what it will come down to