For the first time in baseball history, there will be multiple one-game tiebreakers played on the same day, as two National League division races will be decided in winner-take-all fashion.
In the National League Central, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers each finished their season with 95 victories after winning on Sunday. The Cubs took care of business against their long-time rival St. Louis, and the Brewers finished off an incredible week by sweeping the Detroit Tigers, their seventh straight victory.
As a result of the Cubs winning their season series against Milwaukee, the two teams will now play at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Monday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Eastern. The winner of the game will move on to the National League Division Series, while the loser will host the National League Wild Card Game on Tuesday.
In the National League West, the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers began the day tied in the standings, and both teams won in blowout fashion to conclude the year. The Dodgers thrashed the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park by a score of 15-0 to finish off the regular season, and the Rockies knocked off the Washington Nationals 12-0 at Coors Field to secure a spot in a tiebreaking game against Los Angeles.
That game will take place at 4:05 p.m. Eastern time, and will be played at Dodger Stadium. The winner of that game will take on the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series, while the loser will hit the road to take on either the Cubs or Brewers in the National League Wild Card Game.
Prior to this season, there have never been two tie-breaker games in one day in baseball history. The Dodgers have been involved in five of the first 15 tie-breaking games in MLB history, while the Cubs have played in two, winning a National League playoff in 1908 and a N.L. Wild Card tie-breaker in 1998.
The Rockies have also played in a tie-breaking game, beating the San Diego Padres in 2007 to clinch the wild card berth in the National League.
Chicago Baseball
The Brewers have never played in a tie-breaking game in their history.
