Day 174 (Sept. 1 Baseball Standings Edition)

•  Here's real-life MLB on September 1st:  Top two in each division, next two best.

1. AL East:  Tampa, best record in the AL at 25-11.  4.5 up on the Yankees (19-14), 5.5 up on the Blue Jays (18-15).
2. AL Central:  Chicago is first at 22-13, 1 up on the Indians at 21-14, 2.5 up on the Twins at 20-16.
3. AL West:  Oakland is first at 22-12, 2.5 up on the Astros at 19-14.

There is one tiebreaker.  The tiebreaker for this season is purely mathematical:  HTH first, then division record, then record in the last 20 games in the division, and then step back division game by division game until there's a winner.

Yankees and Astros do not play.  Astros are 12-6 against the West.  Yankees 10-7 against the East.

 Astros AL 5, Yankees AL 6.

So here are the current AL seedings:

1. Tampa Bay
2. Oakland
3. Chicago
4. Cleveland
5. Houston
   
6. New York
   
7. Minnesota
8. Toronto
9. OUT:  Detroit (16-16) 1 1/2 GB
   

Remember, for these playoffs, it's the top two in each division and then the next two, but each tier seeds separately.  Meaning a third-best division winner is #3 ahead of all second-place teams, even if one or more has a better record.

So the AL Bracket would be, with all games in the Best of 3 at the higher seed:

Tampa vs. Toronto

Oakland vs. Minnesota

White Sox vs. Yankees

Cleveland vs. Houston

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Here's the current NL standings:

1. NL East:  Atlanta (20-14), 3 up on both the Marlins and the Phillies (15-15)
2. NL Central:  Chicago (20-14), 3 up on the Cardinals (13-13), 4 up on the Brewers (16-18)
3. NL West:  Dodgers (26-10, best record in baseball), 4.5 up on the Padres (22-15), 8.5 up on the Rockies (17-18), 9 up on the Giants (17-19) 

So we have multiple ties to break.

Atlanta and Chicago (NL 2/3) do not play.  Both teams are 13-9 against their division, so it would have be backstepped, so they are literal tied at this point.

The Marlins and Phillies, however, have played.  They have played only three times, the Marlins winning twice.  Of each of their last 30 games, seven will be played between the two teams in a five day span, Sept. 10-14.  So Marlins NLE 2, Phillies NLE 3.

Now the Marlins and Cardinals for NL 5 and 6. They do not play.  Marlins 10-11 vs. the East, Cardinals 8-7 vs. the Central.  Cardinals NL 5, Marlins NL 6.

There would also be a tie between the Giants and Brewers for the NL #9.  Giants are 11-12 vs. the West, Brewers 12-12 against the Central.  Brewers first team out, Giants second team out.

1. Los Angeles
2. Atlanta/Cubs
3. Cubs/Atlanta
4. San Diego
5. St. Louis
6. Miami
7. Philadelphia
   
8. Colorado
9. OUT:  Milwaukee (1/2 GB)
   
10. OUT:  San Francisco (1/2 GB standings, 1/2 GB in divisional record with Milwaukee)

So:

Los Angeles vs. Colorado

The Braves and Cubs would host the Marlins and Phillies, undetermined which way.

San Diego vs. St. Louis

(SUPERFRAUD ADVISORY:  Do not sleep on MLB fucking the Dodgers with San Diego.  There is a LOT of "chatter", right now, media-wise, surrounding the Padres, and that was BEFORE all the activity at the trade deadline.)