With the chance of Boston, LAnaheim and Tampa Bay tying for the AL Wild Card, here’s how the playoff would work out. The teams are ranked based on their head-to-head records:
- Tampa Bay 16-10
- Boston 12-14
- LA Angels of Anaheim 6-10
The three teams will be assigned letters, A, B and C. Team A gets a bye on day one and must play of the road day two. Team B hosts team C on day one, and the winner of that game hosts team A on day two. The Team with the best record, in this case Tampa Bay, chooses if they want to be team A or Team B. There are very few scenarios in which the team with the best record does not take the bye. Tampa will take the bye, especially since Boston’s pitching situation does not look good for the two-day playoff. If the Red Sox decide to pitch Jon Lester on Wednesday on short rest, he’s not available for either game. If they need to pitch Josh Beckett on Friday in game two, he would be pitching on short rest and would likely not be available until game four or five of the ALDS. It’s possible that the Red Sox could pitch Lester and Beckett in the two games, but then they’re looking at Tim Wakefield, John Lackey and Erik Bedard in the first three games of the ALDS. The Rays will try to make Boston win two at Fenway.
Either way makes the Angels travel a lot. They fly from California to Boston for game one, they have to fly back to Anaheim for game two if they win. This also would require game one to be a day game, so the Rays also have time to travel. Wednesday’s game against Texas is already scheduled to start at five PM PDT instead of seven, but I would not be surprised if it was moved earlier in the day if this tie is possible. Even if there is just a two-way tie involving the Angels, they will need to make a cross-country trip to play the game.
The Angels will also be in a bit of a pitching bind as Dan Haren pitches Monday and Jered Weaver is scheduled for Wednesday. It’s possible Jerome Williams and Joel Pineiro get the calls in the two day playoffs.
The Rays have to like their chances in the three-way tie.
David, Maybe we’re going to get some help from the weather–this could turn out to be a real delicious mess.
If I were the Angels, I would ask if they could play in Fenway (v. Rays) for the 2nd game (if they win game one). Even if there are few people who show up, it would be better for them to be the “home team” in Fenway.
Pingback: Detroit Tigers Links: Is Justin Verlander’s MVP talk quieting down? at hoops227.biz