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Welcome to the last game of the season, and even though the Yankees are guaranteed to make the playoffs, they still need to win today. What is at stake for them today is home field advantage in the wild card game. Seeing as how much better the offense is at Yankee Stadium, gaining that advantage seems pretty important for a one-game playoff. Today we'll be scoreboard watching to see who the Yankees will face in the wild card game, where it will be held, and who they might face in the ALDS. Here's how each game result scenario will change things:
Blue Jays win and Royals lose:
Blue Jays get No. 1 seed, play wild-card game winner
Royals win or Blue Jays lose:
Royals get No. 1 seed, play WC game winner
Yankees win, Astros win and Angels win:
AL West tiebreaker: Astros at Rangers
AL WC game: Astros/Rangers loser at Yankees
Yankees win, Astros win and Rangers win:
AL WC game: Astros at Yankees
(Rangers win AL West, no tiebreaker games)
Yankees win, Astros lose and Angels win:
AL No. 2 WC game tiebreaker: Angels at Astros
AL WC game: Angels/Astros at Yankees
Yankees win, Astros lose and Rangers win:
AL WC game: Astros at Yankees
(Rangers win AL West, no tiebreaker games)
Yankees lose, Astros win and Angels win:
AL West tiebreaker: Astros at Rangers
AL WC game: Yankees at Astros/Rangers loser
Yankees lose, Astros win and Rangers win:
AL WC game: Yankees at Astros
(Rangers win AL West, no tiebreaker games)
Yankees lose, Astros lose and Angels win:
AL No. 2 WC tiebreaker: Angels at Astros
AL WC game: Angels/Astros at Yankees
Yankees lose, Astros lose and Rangers win:
AL WC game: Astros at Yankees
(Rangers win AL West, no tiebreaker games)
It's all very confusing, but essentially we should be rooting for a one-game playoff to decide the second wild card team, as well as having to face the Royals instead of the Blue Jays in the division series. Michael Pineda has not been great, but hopefully Joe Girardi takes this game a little more seriously than he took yesterday's doubleheader.