CLEVELAND — Having already clinched the American League Central Division championship, the Cleveland Guardians know they'll be playing this postseason.
Now all that's left to determine is who the Guardians' opponent will be.
With the Houston Astros and New York Yankees having already secured the top two seeds in the American League, Cleveland is locked into the No. 3 seed of the A.L. playoffs. That means the Guardians will be hosting a best-of-three Wild Card Round series at Progressive Field against the No. 6 seed -- whichever team earns the American League's third and final Wild Card berth.
Entering Tuesday, October 4, that team is slated to be the Tampa Bay Rays, who currently lay claim to an 86-74 record heading into a matchup with the Boston Red Sox. With two days remaining in the regular season, the Rays trail the No. 2 Wild Card, the Seattle Mariners (87-72), by 1.5 games. At 91-69, the Toronto Blue Jays have already clinched the American League's top Wild Card spot and will enter the playoffs as the No. 4 seed, hosting the No. 5 seed for a three-game series in the Wild Card Round.
With both the Mariners and Rays having clinched postseason spots and the Wild Card Round -- which will take place Oct. 7-9 -- just days away, here's each team's remaining schedule:
Mariners
- Oct. 4 vs. Detroit
- Oct. 4 vs. Detroit
- Oct. 5 vs. Detroit
Rays
- Oct. 4 at Boston
- Oct. 5 at Boston
With the Rays holding the head-to-head season tiebreaker over the Mariners, Seattle's magic number to clinch the No. 5 seed is two. With the Mariners having three games remaining and Tampa Bay having two games remaining, Seattle can clinch the No. 5 seed -- which would leave the Rays to play the Guardians -- with any of the following scenarios:
- Mariners win two of their final three games
- Mariners win one of their final three games and the Rays lose one of their final two games
- Rays lose their final two games
Meanwhile, Tampa can only clinch the No. 5 seed -- leaving Seattle to play Cleveland -- with the following scenarios:
- Rays win their final two games, Mariners lose two of their final three games
- Rays win one of their final two games, Mariners lose their final three games