MLB clinch and elimination scenarios: Sept. 21 watch list
One week from Sunday will be the final day of regular-season baseball for 2014. Time flies and all that noise, right? Anywho, let's rundown some of the things we might see on this fine Sunday.
•The Cardinals will clinch a playoff berth if they beat the Reds OR the Pirates beat the Brewers. Just one of the two will make it happen eventually, so this is pretty much a foregone conclusion.
•The Braves will be eliminated from postseason contention with a loss to the Mets AND a Pirates win over the Brewers.
•The Rays haven't had a losing season since dropping the "Devil" from their name. A loss Sunday would be their 81st of the season.
•Nelson Cruz is still sitting with 39 homers to lead the majors. One more and he'll be the first man to 40 this season.
•Francisco Rodriguez is now tied for 10th in career saves with 347, so if he grabs another, he'll move past Randy Myers and into sole possession of 10th.
•Keep your eyes on the AL wild card race. The A's are only up a half-game over the Royals for the top spot while the Royals are only a half-game up on the Mariners for the second spot. The Indians are just 3.5 back of the Royals, too, with a series against them beginning next week (and likely starting with the Indians holding on to a 4-2 lead in the 10th inning).
•The Royals aren't buried in the AL Central, either, as they are just 2.5 back of Detroit and have one last game against the Tigers Sunday.
•The Brewers will be eliminated from contention in the NL Central with either a loss to the Pirates OR a Cardinals win, though obviously their focus at this point is the wild card, where they trail the Pirates by 3.5 games.
Here's how the playoff picture looks as of Sunday morning.
The AL East (Orioles), NL East (Nationals) and AL West (Angels) have already been clinched. The Dodgers have already clinched a playoff spot, but the NL West race isn't done yet, with the Giants being 3.5 games back.
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