Chaos on the Final Day: AL West and NL Wild Card Hang in the Balance
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The Cleveland Guardians and San Diego Padres have locked in their postseason spots, but two berths remain undecided heading into Sunday.
The 2026 MLB regular season concludes with two playoff spots still up for grabs. According to Sportsnet, the Cleveland Guardians secured the AL Central title and the American League's No. 2 seed following an 11-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals, combined with a Chicago White Sox loss to the Colorado Rockies. The White Sox, who are the first team to reach the playoffs after back-to-back 100-loss seasons, will enter the postseason as the No. 6 seed.
Attention now shifts to the AL West. MLB reports that the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers both enter Sunday with 80-81 records. Because Houston holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, Texas must win on Sunday to have a chance at the division; if Houston wins, they clinch the AL West.
In the National League, the final wild-card spot is a toss-up between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sportsnet reporting notes that Philadelphia suffered a 12-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, erasing a 6 1/2-game lead they held over Arizona on Sept. 1. MLB reports that Arizona holds the tiebreaker, meaning a Diamondbacks win and a Phillies loss would hand Arizona the postseason berth. Philadelphia will start Zack Wheeler on Sunday in an attempt to avoid the franchise's worst collapse since 1964.
Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres have clinched home-field advantage for the wild-card round, where they will face the Chicago Cubs. This follows a Saturday result that saw both Philadelphia and Arizona lose, finalizing San Diego's positioning.