I wasn't aware of this until this morning after a little research and I haven't heard any broadcasters mention it. If you look closely at the possibilities for the Astros as the season comes to a close, you may notice that the 2nd place Astros are 78-78 with 6 games remaining, a total of 162 games, the correct number of games in a season. The first place Cardinals are 80-75 with 6 games scheduled, totaling only 161 games. So, I'm wondering what gives.
Well, thanks to the internet, I found out fairly quickly that the Cards' 17 Sept. game against the Giant was postponed due to rain and a makeup was never scheduled. It turns out that IF postseason is in question, they will have to make up that game at the end. They have no off days until the end of the regular season so they would have to play this game after the season is over. And if that game results in a tie for the Division, then we would play them in a playoff, probably the next day. As a side, that would be good for us as we could get an extra day's rest for whoever we want to pitch, giving us more options pitching-wise.
So, as we're ciphering and trying to figure out all the possibilities, assume that the Cardinals are playing 7 more games, not 6. That's bad because it gives them 1 extra game to try to clinch the Division. So the Cardinals need 5 wins out of the next 7 games to clinch. Beyond that, it just depends on how many games the Astros win.
I believe the table below spells it out. The first column shows the possible number of games won by the Astros. If they don't win at least 2 games, it's over. The next column shows the number of wins the Cards need to win the Division, given column A and the last column show the number of wins the Cards need to tie, given column A. Hope it's all very confusing! It is for me.
| If Astros win | Cards need to win | Cards need to tie |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 |
4 comments:
Yes, the magic number either way you look at it is 5. If they win 5, regardless of how well we play, we're out of it.
So we need to root, root, root for the home team but we also need Mr. Skull to work his magic against the Cards for the next few games!
Now I know why I don't watch much baseball...getting into the playoffs is way to confusing! Go Stros!!!
It was stated on the news last night that if the team's tie, the one-game playoff would be in Houston next Tuesday.
1.5 games back as of post time tonight... like a bad girlfriend I'm on the verge of letting them back into my life with the thought that this time they won't break my heart... again.
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