- Copyright 2024 © CollegeFootballPoll.com
- About CFP / Contact
- Legal Statements
All six playoff teams have been decided in the American League while the final two spots in the National League race comes down to the Arizona Diamondbacks (88-72), the New York Mets (87-71) and the Atlanta Braves (87-71).
A Saturday morning check on today's Major League Baseball game odds for today's games found the Diamondbacks, Mets and Braves to all be 1.5-run favorites as they continue their respective weekend series'. Arizona is hosting the San Diego Padres, the Braves are entertaining the Kansas City Royals, and the Mets are on the road at the Milwaukee Brewers.
Detroit and Kansas City became the latest to clinch on Friday when Tigers scored 2 runs on wild pitches and knocked off the lowly Chicago White Sox 4-1, and the Minnesota Twins lost 7-2 to the Baltimore Orioles to offset the Royals' 3-0 loss to the Braves.
Detroit and Kansas City join the Baltimore Orioles as Wild Card teams in the AL, while the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros are the division winners. The Yankees lead the Guardians by a game in determining which team will have home field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. New York essentially has a two-game advantage as they would also win the tie-breaker for taking four of the six meetings the two teams as they won both the home and away series 2-1,
The Tigers get the payoff for their amazing late run, winning 10 of the last 11, and 15 of their last 18. The clinching victory at home puts Detroit in the playoffs for the first time since 2014 when the club finished a four-year run of division titles - the only four AL Central division titles they ever won. They were swept by Baltimore that year in the ALDS to end their three-year run in the AL Championship series. They were 8 games under .500 in early August, but closed out the season by taking 31 of 42 to make the playoffs for the 17th time.
Now, Detroit will try to keep the hot streak alive in the postseason with the goal of capturing a World Series title for the first time since 1984. It would be the fifth title if it happens, to also go along with MLB championships in 1935, 1945 and 1968.
The White Sox, meanwhile, took their 121st loss to break a record of futility that had stood for 62 years. Until last night, that record belonged to the 1962 New York Mets, an expansion team that finished 40-120. In a turn of fate, the worst American League record had previously belonged to the 2003 Detroit squad that lost 119 games.
The Tigers odds were the same as the Guardians in the preseason to win the American League pennant at +3200. Those were the fifth worst odds, just ahead of the Royals (+7000). Detroit also had the 11th-worst odds out of all of Major League Baseball to make the make the playoffs (+200).
In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee and LA Dodgers are the divisional champs. The San Diego Padres are, so far, the only team to clinch a Wild Card spot. The Diamondbacks, Braves and Mets are competing for the 5th and 6th seeds as the Padres lead all three by at least four games. The Braves and Mets both own the tie-breaking scenario with Arizona, having each won their season series over the Diamondbacks.
If the Dodgers and Phillies finish tied for the best NL record, Philadelphia would get home field advantage for having the head-to-head advantage over Shohei Ohtani and company. On Friday, Ohtani hits his 54th home run and took his 57th base swipe in an 11-4 win at the Colorado Rockies. The Phillies were 9-1 losers at Washington.