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00:00One final weekend and maybe a couple of additional games on
00:06Monday of the Major League Baseball regular season. We'll
00:09see if we'll need that double header in Atlanta between the
00:12Braves and the Mets. My guess would be yes, but it's the
00:16final weekend of the MLB regular season. Most has been
00:20determined around those playoff standings, but there is still
00:25some left at stake throughout this weekend. All six of the
00:30divisions have now been clinched as of Thursday night.
00:33The playoff races though for the wild card spots still up in
00:37the air even more so now Joe in the National League than the
00:41American League because the Twins falter and the Tigers and
00:45the Royals keep winning games. At least KC after snapping that
00:48seven game skin. We start though in the National League.
00:51Let's look at those NL standings entering this final
00:54weekend. The Dodgers clinched the National League West for
00:57the 11th time in the last 12 years. The Philadelphia Phillies,
01:02their first divisional crown in the NL East since 2011. The
01:06Brewers were the first divisional champ to clinch in
01:09the National League. The thing that is still outstanding who's
01:12going to earn that number one overall. See the Dodgers a full
01:15game advantage over the Philz and Philadelphia has the
01:18tiebreaker. San Diego pretty comfortable as of this moment
01:21with that top spot in the National League wild card
01:25standings. Three games clear of New York. The Diamondbacks
01:29trail the Mets by a full game. The D-backs a full game in front
01:33of Atlanta for the third and final spot in the National
01:37League playoff picture. So who's everybody playing this
01:40weekend and out the regular season. The Padres again pretty
01:43comfortable not going to come back miraculously to claim the
01:46NL West. They go to Arizona. That should benefit the
01:50Diamondbacks. The Mets are playing a Brewers team in
01:53Milwaukee that on paper should be a difficult matchup but
01:56Milwaukee not going to catch either the Philz or the Dodgers
01:59for the opening round by what do the Brew crew still have at
02:03stake this weekend and the Braves get the Royals. Now KC
02:07still needs to win one game or see Minnesota lose another to
02:12clinch its playoff spot but at least to start Joe, KC will be
02:16fully invested in trying to steal a couple on the road in
02:19Atlanta. Yeah and I this is this is the interesting part of
02:24when they decided to move those two games right then because it
02:27wasn't like you had the White Sox coming to town or the Rays
02:31if you were the Braves with absolutely nothing to play for
02:35and the Braves would have the upper hand. The Braves are
02:38playing against a team fighting for their postseason lives and
02:42this is all going to be either great for the Braves or
02:46terrible for the Braves. There's something to be said for
02:48this final week with teams that have really been in
02:51postseason mode Ben for about the last two weeks or three
02:55weeks here including the Royals and the Braves. I think
02:59there's a lot of unders to be had in these games with teams
03:03that are still battling here. I think it's going to be
03:06fascinating to see how it plays out but this is not a walk in
03:09the park for the Braves at all even with Fried on the mound
03:12tonight. And it's been weird now right for the Braves and the
03:16Mets. They played on Tuesday. Atlanta won the opening game of
03:20that now postponed set five to one. You gotta rework your
03:23starting staff. You gotta figure out how the rest has
03:26been enveloped here in this home stretch of the MLB regular
03:30season in this final week for what it is worth. Max Fried
03:33starts tonight for Atlanta against the Royals Brady Singer.
03:36Atlanta a hefty home favorite minus 174 but Joe to your point
03:40in terms of playoff totals seven and a half. The under has
03:44the juice. Seven and a half is the total in Milwaukee. Sean
03:48Bonilla gets the start for the Mets. They're a slight road
03:50favorite against Frankie Montas and the Brewers. Very
03:55intriguing stuff. In Arizona, the Diamondbacks a short home
03:59favorite against the Padres. You Darvish and San Diego out in
04:05this matchup. So still something at stake here Joe as we look
04:09all around the National League. The Padres have clinched their
04:13playoff berth by the way. I guess technically the Mets
04:17could win every game they have left remaining and the Padres
04:20could really stumble in these final three and the Mets could
04:23earn the top playoff spot for some postseason positioning but
04:27more than likely San Diego in that top spot. So shouldn't
04:30have a ton of care. Obviously, nobody's going to admit that
04:33they're going to go out there and try to win baseball games
04:36and MLB is a very random sport to handicap as it already
04:40stands, but just in terms of true motivation as your
04:43handicapping factor this weekend. Yeah, I mean the
04:48Padres and you kind of saw it last night. I would think
04:53you're going to start seeing some manipulation in bullpens
04:56for some of these teams that know you just got to be in it
04:59to win it. The Padres can rest the night knowing the
05:02postseason. It was what matters so guys that need the extra
05:05rest that you might bring in in a game in a close game out of
05:09the bullpen may not get that call Ben. So you've got to be
05:13weary of that betting these last couple of games. These
05:16teams that already know they're heading to the postseason. The
05:19bullpens are not going to be used like they normally would
05:22have been used to give guys and set it up for the postseason.
05:26Yeah, absolutely so you could think maybe all hands on deck
05:29in some spots eight and a half the total tonight in the
05:32desert. If it is a playoff atmosphere with you Darvish
05:35trying to sharpen the toolkit before the postseason begins
05:38against Merrill Kelly might seem a little bit high in that
05:41one. The over does have a ton of the juice. Arizona needed
05:44their ace Zach Gallon to deliver earlier this week to
05:48avoid a sweep against the Giants and snap a three-game
05:51skid. He did come through again. The D backs a full game
05:54up over Atlanta. The Mets a full game in front now of Arizona
06:00as well. Let me just double check that here. Is it a full
06:02game? Yes, it is a full game in front of the Diamondbacks Joe.
06:07We've got the Dodgers on the road in Coors Field against a
06:10bad Rockies team. We got the Phillies on the road in the
06:12nation's capital against a bad Washington team. How important
06:17do you think that number one overall seed is between these
06:20two teams? They're both going to earn that opening round by
06:23but how much will they jockey for home field advantage and
06:25what potentially would be all of all of the rounds throughout
06:29this NL postseason? Yeah, and I think that means a lot
06:33especially. I mean if you're looking at Philadelphia right
06:36Philadelphia's home record band this year has been phenomenal
06:41and I do think they would much rather make sure that they're
06:45secured no matter what that they're going to get as many
06:47games as possible there. You know the Dodgers obviously not
06:51going away. The Phillies are going to have to earn it and I
06:55do think the Phillies are going to try to get some momentum
06:58here heading into the postseason no matter what
07:01happens. So I expect all hands on deck for the Phillies. The
07:06Dodgers would have to lose their series to the Rockies day
07:09after clinching a divisional crown minus 166 is the number
07:13on LA. But if the Dodgers lose two of three and the Phillies
07:17win two of three, Philadelphia has the tiebreaker for that top
07:20spot. Same conversation in the AF next. The American League
07:24playoff picture where it stands entering the final weekend of
07:27this MLB regular season. Unlike the NL that has the double
07:31header potentially in Atlanta between the Braves and the Mets
07:34kind of hanging over everything pretty clear and cut
07:38in terms of what we have in the American League. The Yankees
07:41finally clinching that American League East yesterday. They have
07:46a game advantage over the Cleveland Guardians for what is
07:50the top spot in the National League. Is there still more to
07:53play for their both of those top two teams, New York and
07:57Cleveland have already earned that opening round by in front
08:00of the Houston Astros. The Mariners were eliminated
08:04yesterday and Joe, we thought this final weekend would be
08:07insane in terms of the American League playoff picture. Could
08:10the Royals stop the bleeding? Could the twins end their slide
08:14and would the Tigers just keep on winning games? Well, before
08:17we even get to the weekend, we know the twins continue to
08:20struggle. They lost a series against Miami at home in the
08:25midweek. Unfathomable. Frankly, they've lost 13 of their last
08:2919. They are one loss away from being eliminated. They are one
08:34win away from either the Royals or the Tigers or the Royals and
08:38the Tigers from making it out or those two teams clinching an
08:42American League playoff berth and the twins already planning
08:45out their winter vacations. So, here is what we have left
08:50standing this weekend. The O's go to Minneapolis against the
08:56twins. Again, Baltimore pretty set. They're going to be the
08:58top seed in the American League wild card. They don't need a
09:02ton. Do they want to play better baseball as their sub 500
09:05in September and since the all-star break, you would say,
09:08yeah, build that momentum but outside of what they need
09:11postseason-wise, not a ton there. We talked about the
09:15Royals and the Braves. KC, road underdog tonight in Atlanta.
09:19Both teams need some wins here in this final weekend. The
09:22Tigers get the white socks. Chicago doing everything they
09:25can, Joe, to avoid loss 121 to not become the worst team in
09:30modern history in Major League Baseball. The Yankees host the
09:34Pirates. The Guardians host the Astros. Still, some
09:38postseason positioning to determine they are at the top.
09:42Yeah, I mean, let's face it. It's all but over here, Ben
09:45because I mean, the twins would need to sweep the Orioles and
09:48then have either Kansas City or Detroit lose all three of their
09:52remaining games to have even a shot at the wild card. So, you
09:56know, the the drama might come to a close here as we head into
10:01the weekend where, you know, let's say the twins lose here
10:04tonight in the Royals and Tigers win. It's it's ball game over
10:07and then at that point, Ben, it's going to make Saturday and
10:09Sunday very lackluster as far as drama and motivation for those
10:15teams but if by some miracle that the white socks can
10:21continue their winning streak, they only need one of those
10:25teams to actually lose Kansas City and Detroit but they have
10:28to handle business. So, this will I think as far as drama
10:32goes maybe be the biggest night in the American League over the
10:35next three days and it starts with the twins here tonight
10:39handling business against Baltimore who to your point has
10:43really not a whole heck of a lot going on here to prove. And
10:47they're throwing out the young rookie Cade Povich who has been
10:49struggling this year. Baltimore, a hefty underdog on
10:52the road in Minneapolis. Pablo Lopez, however, gets to start
10:55for the twins. They're a minus 166 favorite. So, some of the
10:59drama we would expect to continue into Saturday and
11:03listen, man, Detroit has not named its starter yet and
11:06Garrett Crochet is going for the white socks and the socks are
11:10coming off their first sweep since the end of April. So,
11:13maybe there will be some life at least for the Tigers stumbling
11:16at the end of tonight but Detroit's still greater than a
11:19dollar and sixty favorite on that money line. The Tigers have
11:22won five straight eight of their last nine with a win
11:25tonight. The Tigers quench a playoff spot almost unthinkable
11:30when they were four games below 500 on August 22nd. I'm glad to
11:35have my plus 140 ticket on Detroit to make the postseason
11:39that I bet nine days ago and about 11 days ago, it was plus
11:43750. If you are the twins, Joe, your best hope is Atlanta
11:48knocking off the Royals and keeping KC fretting this
11:51series because that's the one where both teams need to stack
11:55up wins to earn a playoff spot. Yeah and but again, if you're
12:01the twins, you gotta worry about what you can handle,
12:03right? Control what you can control. You gotta win this
12:07game tonight against Baltimore and you've got Lopez on the
12:11mound. I think it was one more games this year than he ever
12:14has before and I think he's almost close to 200 strikeouts
12:18on the season, Ben. So, some personal, you know, guys
12:23trying to get the extra money in the contract as well this
12:26weekend. I'm sure there are some incentives at play. By the
12:30way, the Yankees did win the season series against the
12:33Guardians. They have the tiebreaker. Yes. So, New York
12:36would have to lose their set against Pittsburgh and Cleveland
12:39would have to win their series against Houston.