Every game ‘like Game 7 of the World Series’ for Marlins
This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat e-newsletter. MLB.com reporter Joe Trezza crammed on this week with De Nicola on trip. To learn the complete e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it recurrently in your inbox.
WASHINGTON — Who’s prepared for chaos?
“It’s us against the world,” Jake Burger mentioned.
“We are going to approach every game like it’s Game 7 of the World Series,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. mentioned.
Welcome to September and the wild National League Wild Card race, the place the Marlins saved themselves within the combine with three consecutive wins over the Nationals to open Labor Day weekend within the nation’s capital. If it’s been a preview of what the ultimate 4 weeks of the season are going to appear like, issues are about to get even wilder, so buckle up.
With 26 video games left, the Marlins are one in every of six groups battling kind of neck-and-neck for 3 Wild Card spots, and one in every of 4 golf equipment packed even tighter preventing for the ultimate spot. What does Miami have to do to get in? Who is perhaps omitted? Let’s break all of it down.
1. Phillies (74-61), 4.5 video games forward
2. Cubs (72-64), 2.0 video games forward
T-3. Giants (70-66)
T-3. D-backs (70-66)
T-3. Reds (71-67)
6. Marlins (69-67), 1.0 sport behind
The upcoming schedule: MIA at WSH (1), vs. LAD (3), at PHI (3), at MIL (4), vs. ATL (3), vs. NYM (3), vs. MIL (3), at NYM (3), at PIT (3)
The tiebreakers: Miami holds the primary tiebreaker, based mostly on head-to-head matchups, over Arizona (4-2), however not essentially towards San Francisco (3-3) or Cincinnati (3-3). The second tiebreaker is intra-division information. As of Sunday morning, the Marlins (18-21, .462) held the second tiebreaker over the Reds (18-24, .429) however not the Giants (19-13, .594).
The outlook: With 26 video games remaining, the Marlins have to leapfrog three groups to seize the ultimate NL Wild Card, which isn’t inconceivable, however not preferrred. And they’ll have to play their finest baseball to do it. As of Saturday afternoon, Miami’s remaining schedule (.536 opponent win share) projected because the fourth-toughest in MLB. The Phillies, who maintain the primary WC spot, are the one different NL Wild Card contender with a remaining schedule with a .500 or higher opponent win share.
But it’s truly the Cubs’ remaining schedule which may have probably the most influence on the race as a complete. Eleven of Chicago’s subsequent 14 video games are towards both Cincinnati, Arizona or San Francisco, with seven video games remaining between the D-backs and Cubs alone. The Giants and D-backs additionally play one another two extra instances.
The Marlins don’t have any head-to-head matchups remaining towards any of these groups, however they do play the Phillies three extra instances in video games that might instantly influence the race.
The takeaway: Expect chaos. Only one sport separates the 4 groups jostling for that last spot. And with so many contenders taking part in one another, issues have the potential to flip very quickly – particularly if the Marlins maintain racking up wins.
“We are battling out there,” outfielder Bryan De La Cruz mentioned. “We have one goal, which is to make the playoffs.”
