There may be some interesting wild-card matchups coming up, but today’s makeup doubleheader between the Mets and Braves in Atlanta looms as a lose-lose black eye for Major League Baseball. Perhaps it was unavoidable under the strict guidelines of postseason play, but for the three teams involved in the eventual outcome, it’s likely there will be no winners involved.
Waiting in the wings for what appears to be a highly unlikely result, the Arizona Diamondbacks currently have the most wins with an 89-73 record. However, because of tiebreakers in effect, they figure to be the odd team out behind the Mets and Braves, both sitting at 88-72.
The bizarre scenario is this: Both teams playing today need one win to qualify for the wild-card edition of the playoffs, which start tomorrow. The only way Arizona advances is if either team loses both games. Given that the first-game winner is in, there will be nothing on the line in the second, which means its pitching staff will not be extended. Even with regular lineups intact — which MLB should insist for the integrity of postseason play — the loser of Game 1 figures to have a decided advantage for the season finale.
All of which leaves Arizona out of the picture and makes next-round opponents San Diego and Milwaukee the big winners. The idea of surviving an extra-day doubleheader and then heading the equivalent of halfway or all the way across the country to play the next day is mind-boggling. It’s amazing what MLB will do to keep the television schedules intact.
Beyond that, if you can get past the NL wild-card matchups being off-the-chart setups, it figures to be an interesting postseason.
Jim Henneman can be reached at JimH@pressboxonline.com