OAKLAND (KRON) – The Oakland Athletics are in the final home stretch as they battle in the American League Wild Card race.
With just five games left, the A’s sit one game ahead of the Cleveland Indians and a half-game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Wednesday evening the National League’s second Wild Card spot was locked up by the Milwaukee Brewers as they went on to defeat the Miami Marlins 9-2.
The Washington Nationals clinched the first NL Wild Card spot on Tuesday beating the Philadelphia Phillies.
Here is where the Oakland Athletics sit. As each team is within games of one another, positioning could change on a nightly basis.
Starting tonight the Indians and A’s will each play five games in the coming week, while the Rays only have four remaining.
Out of the three teams, the team with the best record over 162-regular season games, will host the team with the second-best record in the Wild Card game on Oct. 2. The winner would then advance to the American League Division Series.
If the second Wild Card spot ties between two teams, the two teams will face off in a play-in game, also known as Game 163. If this game is necessary, the game would be played on Monday, Sept. 30. The winner of that game would then travel to the top Wild Card team to play Oct. 2.
If the three teams tie, each team would be given a letter designation. (A,B or C) The teams who chose A and B will be given two shots to win one game and advance to the Wild Card game, while Team C would only get one chance to keep their chance alive. We wouldn’t know what letter each team has chosen until a tie has happened.
In 2018, the New York Yankees went on to defeat the Oakland Athletics in the Wild Card game, 7-2.