Pennant primer: Royals, Pirates can focus on bigger prize
Only the Pittsburgh Pirates got in and only the Toronto Blue Jays were eliminated – officially – but mark down Tuesday as the night they took away our playoff races.
Sure, both leagues' Central Division races got tighter, but that's about it – and those involve pairs of playoff-bound teams (for sure in the NL and all but certain in the AL). Just about gone is the desperation of loser-go-home scenarios as the season heads toward the final weekend.
Be thankful, at least, for the one-and-done wild-card round format, which keeps teams battling to win divisions and avoid that roll of the dice.
Now, it's Kansas City and Pittsburgh less concerned about what's lurking behind them and focused instead on making things difficult for division leaders Detroit and St. Louis.
The Indians, Yankees and Brewers are left with elimination numbers (that's the negative version of a magic number) of one. The best they can do is win out and force a tie if the team they're chasing loses all remaining games.
Seattle is the only outsider with much more than a whimper remaining, but when ace Felix Hernandez added his own eight-run disaster Tuesday to a sudden string of epic Mariners pitching failures, their elimination number of three feels plenty onerous.
Hernandez didn't get out of the fifth inning, the fourth consecutive game that's happened to a Mariners starter. The total for the four starters is 27 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings and a 16.56 earned run average.
Meanwhile, Kansas City was cruising 7-1 at Cleveland behind pitcher Yordany Ventura's seven shutout innings. That leaves Seattle three games behind the Royals with five remaining and has the Indians and Yankees all but done.
Similar drill in the National League, where Pittsburgh became the second team in a week to spray champagne around Atlanta's Turner Field. The Pirates clinched a playoff spot with a 3-2 victory on the same field where Washington won the NL East last week and got an equally important boost to their playoff hopes from dominating pitching Tuesday by Gerrit Cole, who's dealt with injury issues this season.
Milwaukee's 3-1 loss at Cincinnati was enough to give Pittsburgh its second consecutive playoff appearance and could have eliminated the Brewers. But San Francisco remained barely within reach of Milwaukee by losing later at Los Angeles.
With four or five games left on everyone's schedule, it's get-it-over-with time. And nowhere is that sentiment more appropriate than New York. After all, prolonging the inevitable one more day could pair up the Yankees' elimination with Derek Jeter's final home game.
So, back to the remaining suspense.
The Royals' victory tied them with Oakland for the two AL wild-card spots but also kept Kansas City a game behind Detroit in the Central. Plenty of scoreboard-watching remains with the Royals playing at Cleveland tonight followed by four at the White Sox. The Tigers play their final four at Minnesota after one more home game with the White Sox.
If Detroit and Kansas City tie for the division, they'll play a one-game tiebreaker Monday at Detroit. If the Royals and A's tie, the wild card game will be played in Kansas City – based on results of the teams' season series. The Tigers also would host the wild-card game should they fall out of the division and face Oakland.
Pittsburgh has similar thoughts after the Cardinals lost 4-3 on a walk-off at Wrigley Field. St. Louis' NL Central lead is a game and a half. The Cardinals play one more in Chicago and three at Arizona while the Pirates have two more at Atlanta and three at Cincinnati. Should they tie for the division, the tie-breaker would be Monday at St. Louis
PENNANT PRIMER
Days left in season: 5
Tuesday's big mover: Dodgers. Not only did Los Angeles reduce its magic number for the NL West to one, but the Dodgers opened a two-game edge on St. Louis for the second-best record in the league, which would ensure home advantage in a Division Series with the Cardinals. Sure, the Dodgers have hopes of making up the two-game lead Washington has for best overall record, but the Nationals have that tiebreaker, meaning the Dodgers would need a three-game swing. Los Angeles has the tiebreaker on St. Louis.
Tuesday's big loser: Giants. The loss at Los Angeles puts the Dodgers in position to clinch the division today – with Clayton Kershaw pitching against the Giants. But it's more than that for San Francisco. Pittsburgh moved a game ahead of the Giants, meaning the Pirates would host a wild-card game between the two. Even if the teams end up with the same record, the game would be in Pittsburgh because the Pirates won the season series. And that's still not the worst news. Before their game Tuesday, the Giants learned center fielder and leadoff man Angel Pagan needs back surgery and is done for the season. Combined with the uncertainty of Michael Morse's oblique injury, it's little wonder offense is becoming an issue – San Francisco's only runs Tuesday came on a homer by pitcher Madison Bumgarner.
Today's can't-miss game: White Sox at Tigers. The AL Central will be decided by how Detroit and Kansas City handle the division's bottom two teams. The most difficult assignment goes to the Tigers this afternoon when they face Chris Sale. The matchup with Detroit's Justin Verlander would be marquee stuff anytime, but in this instance a Tigers loss would give Kansas City a chance to tie for the division lead with a victory later at Cleveland.