The final games have now aired on television, and Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ and Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito have reached the playoff round of the “MLB The Show Players League.”
The league, in which players from all 30 teams squared off in three-inning games on the Sony brand video game “MLB: The Show 20,” wrapped up its 29-game season on Wednesday night, with Giolito knocking off Amir Garrett of the Cincinnati Reds to clinch the sixth seed in the postseason.
Giolito had punched his ticket into the playoffs earlier Wednesday with the loss of New York Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle to Lance McCullers Jr. of the Houston Astros, and rose all the way to the sixth seed by virtue of the runs scored tiebreaker.
Happ had punched his ticket with a remarkable run of wins, capturing 10 of his final 11 games to close out regular season play. He dropped to the seventh seed by virtue of Giolito outscoring him in the league.
Now the quarterfinals in the tournament are set, with Happ scheduled to battle Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo, the second seed, in that round. Giolito will also have a tough battle against Toronto Blue Jays youngster Bo Bichette, the third seed.
If Happ and Giolito win their quarterfinal matchups, they will advance to the semifinal round, where they would face each other.
Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays captured the top seed, and will face Gavin Lux of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the quarterfinals. Jeff McNeil of the New York Mets earned the fourth seed, and he will face Dwight Smith Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles in the other quarterfinal.
Chicago Baseball
The first pair of quarterfinal games will air on FS1 at 9 p.m. Central on Friday. The second set of quarterfinal games will air on ESPN 2 on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., and will be followed by the first semifinal game, according to a schedule released by MLB.
The second semi-final game will be aired on FS1 at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The championship series, a best-of-five showdown, will air Sunday on ESPN.
