Not that that really matters.
I still remember the 1983 NLCS, betwene the Dodgers and Phillies. The Dodgers went 11-1 against Philadelphia during the regular season, which I believe set some sort of record for the most lopsided regular season result between two playoff opponents. Nobody could figure out how Philadelphia could win.
Naturally, the Phillies hammered the Dodgers.
Then the Dodgers did the same thing to the Mets in '88.
The question in my mind is, does it really matter? That is, is there a strong correlation between how teams do against each other in the regular season v. the playoffs, with instances like these being occasional exceptions to the rule? Or are all bets pretty much off in the postseason?
Nice!
Orioles stomp the Rays, and the Red Sox beat the Yanks.
Madison Bumgarner goes deep at Coors Field - 3-run dinger!
Not bad, MadBum.
And once again, he wakes up the Giants offense with a long ball…
And way to go Diamondbacks! 1-0 over LA!!!
Magic Number now 15?
Mariners beat the Blue Jays, bringing their win total to 68, one more than last year.
Looks like the 2013 schedules just came out – check your team’s website.
So with the newly divided leagues, it looks like the Dodgers, at least, have an interleague series every month except September. They’ll be playing AL East teams throughout the season (except for their usual series against the Angels), including a two-game series at Yankee Stadium. I might have to make some summer travel plans.
Nice finish in the AL East games tonight. Yanks and O’s win. Sox couldn’t pull off the comeback, O’s win another 1-run game on Machado’s “little league” play and McClouth’s hit into the corner. Looks like it’s gonna stay tight.
That play was fucking awesome.
It’s a shame the Yanks won, but the Orioles have opened up a 3-game gap over the Rays. It would be nice if they could complete the sweep tomorrow, before heading to Oakland for another incredibly important series that could have a big impact on the Wild Card race.
It’s interesting in that we’re seeing a possible scenario where the two-wild-card format will actually make the AL LESS interesting. If Tampa Bay falls away that will basically set the teams in the AL; the only race would be whether New York or Baltimore wins the East/goes to the play-in. But if we were using one Wild Card we’d actually have a thrilling race set up between NY/Balt and Oakland, where the loser of NY/Balt might be going straight to the golf course (Oakland is ahead of both.)
In the NL, on the other hand, you have one race, really, the SECOND wild card, which is between St. Louis and LA, with the Pirates, Brewers, Diamondbacks and Phillies all possibly in the mix. So that, actually, could be really awesome. But the AL is kind of winding up.
That’s funny, I would have said just the opposite. Sure, there’s a race for that second wildcard spot in the NL, but only because there isn’t a fifth team in the NL that’s >8 games above .500. And that’s the only NL race left that has any life in it.
OTOH, in the AL, you have viable races for the division title in all three divisions. The O’s and Yanks are tied; the Chisox and Tigers are only a game apart; and even though the Rangers just keep winning, the A’s haven’t given up on this one, and are only three games back. (And boy, did the A’s ever slam the door on the Angels’ run for the wildcard.)
ETA: I should have read more carefully, I see that you were just talking about the effect of the second wildcard on how interesting the races were. So my comment above really wasn’t on point. Gotta go do some work, but I’ll try to say something later that actually responds to what you said, rather than what I thought you were saying. 
You do make a good point though RT, in that the second NL wildcard race is the most boring 5 team postseason race in my sports memory, and I say that as someone who’s team has a dog in the fight. It’s shaping up to be a race of attrition with the team who implodes the most slowly getting the win. It’s sort of hard to watch. While maybe it’s marginally more interesting to have any race in the NL at all than no race, I sort of don’t want to see any of the teams currently competing for the second wildcard make it to the post season.
Now that the Brewers and Phils, who are both really hot right now, are only 3 games back of the Cards, I’m hoping that one of them will stay hot and take it as the Cards, Dodgers, and Pirates fade. I’m especially rooting for the Brewers, see below.
I can certainly see your point. Even if the Phils or Brewers take the second wildcard, they really haven’t had the sort of season that’s worthy of postseason play. The sole reason for including the winner of the second wildcard, at this point, is to attach a real penalty to being a wildcard instead of a division champ. (I know it was always the main intellectual justification. But part of it was, maybe there are five playoff-worthy teams in a league. Not this year in the NL.)
Which is why I’m rooting for the Brewers, since they just finished beating up on the Braves. If the one-game playoff is Brewers-Braves, that’ll send that message home, good and hard, that there’s a penalty to settling for wildcard status.
Anyway, I think the second wildcard slot is doing its intended job. Even before the A’s overtook the Yankees and O’s, they still didn’t want to face the A’s in a one-game playoff in order to get to the ‘real’ postseason. And the Rangers have to keep winning to stay ahead of the A’s, because if they slipped, they’d have to play that game against the O’s-Yankees loser, instead of playing the winner of the one-game playoff.
I still think there are an abundance of ways the MLB playoff structure could be improved, but the second wildcard slot has once again given us division races that really matter, in the best divisions as well as the weakest ones. I’m rather happy about that.
Same here. If we were playing by last year’s rules, the Braves would be sitting pretty right now, and so would the Nats – even if they slacked off in September, the worst that would likely happen is that the Braves would overtake them for the division but they’d still get in the postseason. Now, with the one-game wild card round, I’m desparate for them to stay at the top of the division. It’s not great for my blood pressure, but it’s more fun to watch.
Also, what if the Cards “steal” the Braves’ spot twice in a row – last time by outplaying them in the final month, this time by beating them in the single most important game they’re going to face? I remember way back when I paid some attention to football, the Broncos always seemed to be the ones who put a stop to the Browns, either in the last game of the season or the first round of the playoffs, and we were burning John Elway in effigy for years.
–Cliffy
The Orioles did it again. Took 14 innings this time, but the pressure is on the Yanks tonight.
The O’s won in their favorite way, by one run, in extra innings, 3-2 over TB in 14. So at least for a few hours, they’re in first place in the AL East. Also clinched a .500 season for the first time since they fired Davey Johnson: the 15th time is the charm, or something like that. 
ETA: Beaten to the punch by SY! 
The Yankees keep pace.