(670 The Score) An MLB season that was once in doubt and marred by labor strife for months is nearing the playoffs.
There's a week left in the regular season, and we have two first-place baseball teams here in Chicago. With that in mind, let's reset the outlooks for the Cubs and White Sox as they look to clinch division crowns and finalize their seeding for the expanded 16-team playoff format that will feature all postseason entrants playing in the best-of-three wild-card round series.
Cubs (31-22)
Magic number to clinch NL Central: 6
Current seed: No. 2 (by virtue of tiebreaker against Braves)
If playoffs started Monday, foe would be: Phillies
Outlook: Entering play Monday, the Cubs lead the Cardinals by 3.5 games and the Reds and Brewers by 4.5 games in the NL Central race. So barring a late collapse, the Cubs should clinch the division crown later this week. The Cubs have four games left at the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates (15-38) before visiting the powerful White Sox for three games to end their regular season.
If the Cubs win the division, they'll be the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NL, as the Dodgers sit comfortably in first place at 38-16.
If the Cubs falter and the Cardinals or others shine late, a tiebreaker could come into play. The Cubs and Cardinals split their head-to-head series 5-5, so the second tiebreaker would have to come into play between them – the best record in divisional games. The Cubs currently lead by a hair on that front, but late struggles could flip that.
The Cubs hold the tiebreaker over the Reds by virtue of winning the season series 6-4. The Cubs and Brewers split their season series 5-5 as well, so the intra-division tiebreaker would come into play should that unlikely scenario come to fruition. The Cubs are currently 21-15 in NL Central games, while the Brewers are 16-16.
White Sox (34-19)
Magic number to clinch AL Central: 4
Current seed: No. 2
If the playoffs started Monday, foe would be: Indians
Outlook: Entering play Monday, the White Sox lead the Twins (33-22) by two games in the AL Central race and the Indians (29-24) by five games. Perhaps more importantly, the White Sox are three games clear of the Twins in the loss column, putting them in a solid position to win their first division crown since 2008. The White Sox's schedule is tough in this final week, as they visit the Indians for four games before hosting the NL Central-leading Cubs for three. The White Sox are just 2-4 against the Indians this season.
The White Sox and Twins split their season series 5-5, so the intra-division tiebreaker would come into play in the event that they finish with identical records. The White Sox would hold that tiebreaker, as they have gone a robust 25-11 against the AL Central this season, well ahead of the Twins' current 21-17 mark.
The White Sox trail the Rays (35-19) by just a half-game for the top seed in the AL. They're one game clear of the third-seeded Athletics (33-20). The White Sox are currently in control on the tiebreaker front against those teams. They didn't play head-to-head, so the intra-division tiebreaker applies. The White Sox's 25-11 mark against the AL Central is a little better than the Rays' 27-13 mark against the AL East and the Athletics' 24-12 record against the AL West.
