Two division titles, some seeding and the final playoff berth on the National League side were decided Sunday as Game 162 took multiple postseason races down to the wire.
Let's run down how everything shook out.
The Mets' collapse is complete. They lost to the Marlins on Sunday, 4-0, and finish 83-79, which is the same record as the Reds, who also lost Sunday. The Reds won the season series, head-to-head and take the third NL wild card spot via tiebreaker.
After having the best record in baseball on June 12, the Mets went 38-55 the rest of the way to miss the playoffs altogether. This allowed the Reds to become just the third team in the 2000s to make the playoffs with 83 wins or fewer, joining the 2005 Padres and 2006 Cardinals. Keep in mind, those Cardinals won the World Series.
Give the Reds credit for hanging around and taking advantage, of course, and they return to the playoffs in a full season for the first time since 2013. Terry Francona takes the Reds to the postseason in his first year as their manager, meaning he has now guided three different teams to the playoffs.
The Blue Jays had some fun on offense in an 13-4 victory over the Rays. Alejandro Kirk homered twice and drove home six runs while Addison Barger added a two-run shot. The Blue Jays held the tiebreaker over the Yankees coming into Sunday and they needed it, as the Yankees also won, 3-2. Both teams finish 94-68, which is tied for the best record in the AL. Due to winning the season series, the Blue Jays get the top seed in the American League and receive a bye straight to the ALDS. The Yankees, despite being tied for the best record, end up being saddled with the No. 4 seed and will face the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series.
This marks the Blue Jays first division title since 2015 and their highest win total since 1993, which was the last time the Blue Jays won the World Series.
The Guardians have won the American League Central by with their win on Sunday in extra innings, 9-8. They didn't actually need the win, of course, as the Tigers lost earlier and the Guardians had the tiebreaker. It was already clinched when they came back to win.
The Guardians once trailed the Tigers by 15 ½ games in the AL Central. The Tigers' biggest lead was 14 games. Both of these are records. Previously, the biggest blown lead in a division was 13 games (1951 Dodgers) and the biggest comeback ever was 15 games (1914 Braves). The Tigers were 59-34 at one point, but they went 28-41 the rest of the way. The Guardians won 17 of 19 at one point in September to take first place with the furious rally. .
The Tigers will get the chance for revenge, though, as the Guardians secured the No. 3 seed and the Tigers are the six. These two teams will square off in the Wild Card Series in Cleveland starting Tuesday.
Here are the four Wild Card Series. The Blue Jays (AL No. 1 seed) and Mariners have byes in the American League while the Brewers (No. 1 seed overall) and Phillies get the byes on the NL side.
If you had Guardians vs. Rangers as our unnecessary extra innings game today, you win! They're going to the tenth tied 5-5. This game doesn't mean anything now. Detroit's loss gave Cleveland the AL Central title.
The Reds will be the NL's final playoff team.
The Mets had the best record in baseball on June 12. They only need to get to 84 wins to make the playoffs. They are down four runs and have only three precious outs left.
Mets need four to tie and keep their playoff hopes alive.
The rest of the game is a formality at this point, with the Jays winning 13-4. Springer's home run is notable, though. It was his 32nd this season and he's hitting .309/.399/.560. He had never before hit .300 in a season. The .959 OPS is the second-highest of his career. He's 35 years old and looked cooked last season. It's been a remarkable transformation and he's one of the big reasons the Blue Jays are less than two innings from securing the AL East title.
Mets now control their own fate, albeit while facing a 4-0 deficit in the bottom of the eighth.
He has been removed for a pinch-runner here in the eighth so the fans in Seattle could give him an ovation. He's the seventh player with a 60-homer season and those 60 homers are the single-season record for a catcher, a switch-hitter, and a Mariner.
The Tigers just dropped a 4-3 game against the Red Sox, assuring the Guardians of the AL Central title.
Just about three weeks ago, the Guardians were 10 games back. Yet the Tigers stumbled and the Guardians made the most of their opening.
It ultimately won't matter given the Blue Jays score, but Ben Rice just hit his second homer of the game. The Yankees have a 3-2 lead in the eighth.
New York needed a win and a Blue Jays loss to clinch the AL East title and a Wild Card Series bye. Assuming Toronto doesn't blow their big lead, the Yankees will be the top wild card team.
Addison Barger clubs a two-run home run and the Blue Jays now have a 10-4 lead. The Rogers Centre is rocking and it looks like a sure thing that the Jays will win the AL East for the first time since 2015. The 94 wins will be their most since 1993, when they last won the World Series.
The Yankees and Orioles are shaping up to be our unnecessary 13-inning game. It's 2-2 in the eighth.
A new career high for Shohei Ohtani. He hit his 55th home run of the season Sunday. His previous career high was the 54 he hit last season.
In addition to those 55 home runs, Ohtani also has a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings. He is on the odds-on favorite to win NL MVP again.
But 482 feet will always earn you some live-blog attention:
Blue Jays All-Star catcher Alejandro Kirk hit a grand slam in the first inning and now he's added a two-run shot here in the fifth.
This marks the sixth multi-homer game of Kirk's career and he now has a career-high 15 home runs this season.
The Blue Jays lead 8-4 and are just four innings away from clinching the AL East title and No. 1 AL seed.
Detroit has two runners on and nobody out. Boston continues to lead 4-3.
In his final start of the season and possibly of his career, Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw threw 5 ⅓ shutout innings against the Mariners. He broke out his famed curveball -- Public Enemy No. 1, as Vin Scully used to say -- to strike out MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh to end the fifth inning.
After Kershaw recorded the first out of the sixth inning, longtime teammate Freddie Freeman headed to the mound to take his pitcher out of the game.
Kershaw finishes his final regular season with a 3.36 ERA in 112 ⅔ innings. He has a 2.54 ERA in the regular season for his career.
Prior to Sunday's game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw will not be on the Wild Card Series roster. Today's start means Kershaw would only be able to pitch on short rest in that round, which they don't want to do. He'll be left off the roster in favor of an available pitcher.
So, if the Dodgers lose the Wild Card Series, Sunday will have been the final appearance of Kershaw's career. He announced his retirement earlier this month.
The Blue Jays would win the AL East, the Guardians the AL Central, and the Reds the final NL wild card spot.
Mind you, we're only about halfway home in most of these games.
The White Sox perfect game bid is over.
The Mets are down 4-0 and are going to Edwin Díaz in the fifth inning. They need a win and a Reds loss to get the third wild card spot.
Andrés Giménez comes through with a pinch-hit sac fly and it's 6-4 Blue Jays. As another reminder, the Blue Jays clinch the AL East with a win or a Yankees loss.
Tigers are going to the bullpen with some traffic on board in the fifth. Still a 4-3 Red Sox lead.
Rookie Mason Fluharty strikes out Jonathan Aranda to leave the bases loaded. It's 5-4 Jays over the Rays through four.
Two-out RBI by Andrew Vaughn makes it 4-2 Brewers over the Reds in the fourth.
The Jays still lead, 5-4, but the bases are loaded for the Rays and Kevin Gausman is being removed. Lackluster outing for him and the Jays need him to be their ace in the playoffs.
The Brewers flipped a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead over the Reds in one swing by Danny Jansen:
For the Reds, that spelled an end to Brady Singer's day, and fellow rotation member Nick Lodolo is now coming on in relief for the first time in his big-league career.
You've gotta wonder how much longer the Blue Jays want to stick with Kevin Gausman. He just allowed a one-out single and that's the seventh Rays hit. They're having very comfortable at-bats against him. It's 5-4 Jays.
The Red Sox have jumped back ahead of the Tigers here in the fourth thanks to a game-tying two-run home run from David Hamilton and back-to-back doubles by Nick Sogard and Jarren Duran.
Here's the homer:
As noted previously, the Tigers must win this game and have the Guardians lose against the Rangers to take the AL Central crown.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is burning through his bullpen like there's no tomorrow -- because there might not be. Off Ryne Stanek in the fourth inning, Eric Wagaman doubled in the first run of the game to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead. Brian Navarreto added a second run on a double off the wall and Javier Sanoja tripled to make it 3-0. Xavier Edwards put them up 4-0 before the Mets finally got out of the inning. If the Mets lose, they go home.
Brady Singer will conclude his second time through the Milwaukee order in this upcoming bottom of the fourth, and he may not be permitted to get into the order for a third time. On the other hand, Terry Francona has ridden his bullpen hard in recent days. That makes for an interesting decision when it comes to giving the hook to Singer.
Trea Turner played five innings (as planned) in his return from a hamstring injury today. He finished the season with a .304 batting average to win the NL batting title. He's the first Phillie to win it since Richie Ashburn in 1958.
