With one more win each, the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies will meet in the World Series for the second straight season. It would be the first World Series rematch since the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978. The Astros are tied, 3-3, with the Texas Rangers in the AL Championship Series. The Phillies are up 3-2 on the Arizona Diamondbacks. NLCS Game 6 and ALCS Game 7 are both set for Monday (check the full schedule here).
In the event the Astros and Phillies again win the pennant, the World Series would begin Friday, Oct. 27, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Yes, the Phillies, a wild-card team, would host the World Series against the AL West-winning Astros. Houston was the No. 2 seed and had a Wild Card Series bye in the AL. The Phillies were a wild-card team and the No. 4 seed in the NL.
Don't get mad at me, Astros fans, I'm just the messenger. You can blame MLB's tiebreaker rules. The Astros and Phillies finished with identical 90-72 records, and the Phillies went to the Minute Maid Park and won two of three in April. They won the season series and thus have the tiebreaker, and get home-field advantage in the World Series. Here is that April series:
- April 28: PHI 3, HOU 1 (box score)
- April 29: PHI 6, HOU 1 (box score)
- April 30: HOU 4, PHI 3 (box score)
The Phillies won that April 29 game and clinched the season series and tiebreaker over the Astros thanks to six terrific innings from Zack Wheeler, and home runs by Nick Castellanos and Kody Clemens. Yep, Kody Clemens, who is not on the postseason roster. His two-run homer against Phil Maton broke the game open in the sixth inning.
Regardless of record, wild-card teams cannot have home-field advantage against a division winner in the Wild Card Series, Division Series, or Championship Series. A wild-card team can have home-field advantage over a division winner in the World Series though. That quirky little rule could come into play in the event we get an Astros vs. Phillies World Series rematch.
Of course, the Championship Series are not over yet. The D-backs and Rangers are fully capable of winning two straight games (both have earlier this round) to spoil the Astros vs. Phillies rematch. And, if they do, Texas would have home field advantage over the D-backs because they had the better regular season record. No tiebreaker scenario to worry about there.
