Despite the Athletics loss to the White Sox on Wednesday night, the magic number to reach the postseason fell to 16 thanks to losses by the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. The A's have 17 games remaining. Here is your Wild Card magic number report as of the end of September 10:
Wins | Losses | GB |
OAK
Magic Number
|
Head-to-head
W-L
|
Notes | |
OAK | 81 | 64 | +1.5 | |||
DET | 80 | 66 | -- | 16 | 2-5 | M# for home field in the AL Wild Card |
SEA | 79 | 66 | 0.5 | 16 | 7-9 | M# for the second Wild Card (3 to play HTH) |
TOR | 76 | 69 | 3.5 | 13 | 4-3 | |
CLE | 74 | 69 | 4.5 | 13 | 4-2 | |
NYY | 74 | 69 | 4.5 | 13 | 4-2 | |
TB | 70 | 76 | 10.0 | 6 | 4-2 | |
CWS | 65 | 80 | 14.5 | 2 | 3-3 | 1 to play HTH |
HOU | 65 | 81 | 15.5 | 1 | 11-8 | |
BOS | 63 | 83 | 17.0 | Elim. | 4-3 | |
MIN | 62 | 82 | 17.0 | Elim. | 6-1 | |
TEX | 54 | 91 | 25.5 | Elim. | 7-5 | 7 to play HTH |
LAA | 90 | 55 | +9.0 | 8-8 | 3 to play HTH | |
BAL | 86 | 59 | +10.0 | 4-2 | ||
KC | 80 | 64 | +1.0 | 18 | 2-5 |
Kansas City's mere one-game lead with three to play against Detroit also means that Kansas City could dip into the Wild Card chase. The Royals and Tigers have three games against each other to go at Kauffman Stadium.
Head-to-head record is important to decide home-field advantage in the event both Wild Cards have the same record, or a Game 163 Tiebreaker made necessary by two or more teams tying for the second Wild Card spot. Against the Tigers and Royals, the A's would be on the road. The A's must sweep the Mariners over the weekend to win home field advantage. Otherwise, against the Blue Jays, Indians, and Yankees, the A's win the tiebreaker.
Around the American League Thursday
Travel day for a lot of the league, but here's a schedule for today's games of interest in the Wild Card race:
Time (PT) | Visiting | Starting Pitcher | Home | Starting Pitcher | Notes | |
9:05 AM | Twins | Kyle Gibson (11-10, 4.27) | at | Indians | Corey Kluber (14-9, 2.47) | M# vs. CLE = 13 |
Game 2 | Twins | Ricky Nolasco (5-10, 5.87) | at | Indians | T.J. House (2-3, 3.71) | M# vs. CLE = 13 |
11:10 AM | Athletics | Scott Kazmir (14-7, 3.42) | at | White Sox | Chris Sale (11-3, 2.09) | |
4:05 PM | Rays | Alex Cobb (9-7, 2.83) | at | Yankees | Michael Pineda (3-4, 1.80) | M# vs. NYY = 13 |
5:10 PM | Red Sox | Clay Buchholz (7-8, 5.29) | at | Royals | Liam Hendriks (1-1, 4.81) | M# vs. KC = 18 |
Idle | Tigers, Mariners, Blue Jays |