>>> If it wasn't for the similarly-shocking success of another AL team, the Oakland Athletics would be the best story of the year. Coming into the season, they traded away their top two starters and their closer. Their payroll was one of the lowest in baseball. Yet by beating the Texas Rangers 4-3 on October 1st, they have clinched a playoff berth. Unfortunately, it's only a spot in a one-game playoff, but the A's have time to change that. If they win both of their remaining games against the Rangers, they will be the unlikely AL West champs, thus guaranteeing themselves a five-game postseason series. Texas needs one win over the next two days to clinch.
>>> The result of the Athletics' victory: it's the end of the line for the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels, even though both won on Monday. They needed lots of help to get a wild card spot anyway. Both teams are still very good bets to once again return to the playoffs next year. Hopefully this doesn't cost Mike Trout the MVP...but it probably will.
>>> Another team that will join the A's in the playoffs: the Detroit Tigers, thanks to their 6-3 win over the Royals (Miguel Cabrera beefed up his Triple Crown chances). They win the AL Central over the now-eliminated Chicago White Sox (kudos to them, no one thought they'd hang around this long). So here's a flaw with the new playoff system: the Tigers have just the 7th-best record in the AL and they play in baseball's weakest division, but they are nevertheless guaranteed a five-game postseason series and they now get to rest their starters and set their rotation in advance. Of the six teams with more wins than the Tigers, two (Angels & Rays) won't be in the postseason at all while the other four (Rangers, Yankees, A's, Orioles) are fighting tooth and nail to avoid the one-game playoff. It's not a fair system, and MLB should address it by either eliminating divisions or balancing the schedules.
>>> The New York Yankees entered Monday with their magic number in the AL East at four; it's now down to two with two games to play. They pounded Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox 10-2 while the Baltimore Orioles dropped an intense affair to the Rays 5-3. The Yankees are now one game up in the division. Something to watch: how the now-eliminated Rays will play the Orioles these next few days and what kind of lineups Joe Maddon sends onto the field.
>>> The Washington Nationals had already clinched a playoff spot, but they officially won the NL East (despite losing to the Phillies themselves) thanks to the Atlanta Braves' loss to the Pirates. It's an amazing turnaround for the former Montreal Expos. It's easy to forget, what with the Mike Trout madness, that Bryce Harper is also doing great things at a ridiculously young age. In fact, he's been one of September's hottest hitters. The Nats are officially in the Division Series, though who they will play is still up in the air. The Braves are now locked in for a one-game playoff.
>>> And it looks like that one-game playoff will come against the St. Louis Cardinals. By topping the Reds 4-2, they lowered their magic number in the wild card from two to one. They could have clinched, but the Los Angeles Dodgers aren't going quietly; their sixth consecutive win came on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth against the Giants. One more Cardinals win or Dodgers loss over these next two games will officially give St. Louis a playoff bid. Or at least a nine-inning deathmatch with the Braves.
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