Oakland A’s can still be the AL’s No. 2 seed, but would they win by losing today?
OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s will enter the American League playoffs as the second or third seed and will play either the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians or the Chicago White Sox in the first round next week.
That’s about all we knew as of Sunday morning, as several playoff positions still have to be decided on the final day of Major League Baseball’s regular season.
It’s complicated.
The A’s will earn the No. 2 seed for the AL playoffs if they beat the Seattle Mariners today and the Minnesota Twins lose to the Cincinnati Reds. If that happens, both the A’s and Twins will be 36-24, but Oakland would win the tiebreaker by virtue of having the better intradivision record.
The A’s had a 25-14 record vs. AL West opponents as of Sunday morning. The Twins finished with a 23-17 record vs. Central Division foes, and the White Sox were 25-15.
If the Twins win today, the A’s will be the No. 3 seed no matter what.
If the A’s are the No. 2 seed, they will play the No. 7 seed. Right now, that would either be the Indians (34-25) or the White Sox (35-24).
If Cleveland loses to Pittsburgh today, and the White Sox beat the Cubs, the Indians will finish as the No. 7 seed. If the Indians and White Sox are tied after Sunday, Cleveland would win the head-to-head tiebreaker and finish second in the Central. Chicago would then come to Oakland for the first round.
If the A’s are the No. 3 seed, they will play the Astros in the best-of-three first round that starts Tuesday. Houston is 29-30, easily the worst record of any American League team that has qualified for the postseason.
The A’s were 7-3 against the Astros this season. So from Oakland’s perspective, perhaps a matchup with Houston wouldn’t be the worst thing.
The A’s are starting Frankie Montas (3-5, 6.32 ERA) on Sunday vs. the Mariners, who are going with their ace, Marco Gonzales (7-2, 3.06 ERA). Gonzales has won his last five starts, including a 6-5 victory over the A’s on Sept. 14.