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The Yankees and Blue Jays have both clinched postseason spots but will fight for the American League East title over the final three games. The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers will also be scoreboard-watching this weekend as the AL Central rivals jockey for the division title and a wild card spot.
The Blue Jays now await the winner of the New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox AL Wild Card Series. The Yankees made a hard late-season charge and even tied the Blue Jays with three games left. Both teams won their final three regular season games from there, but Toronto won the head-to-head tiebreaker (8-5) with the Yankees to clinch the division.
National League 1. Milwaukee Brewers – The Brewers secured their third straight NL Central title. They earned a bye in the first round, the NL's overall No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the postseason (including the World Series).
The Guardians spent most of September chasing down the Tigers and beat them on the final day of the regular season for the biggest comeback in the standings in MLB history. Fate conspired to pit the two teams against each other in the wild-card series, which naturally went to a winner-take-all Game 3.
Four years after signing Trevor Story to a huge contract, the deal paid off in a big way this season. He had his best season by FanGraphs' WAR since 2019. Aroldis Chapman turned back the clock in a big way with one of the best seasons of his career at the age of 37.
Eleven of the 12 spots have been filled. The Reds and Mets are competing for the final one in the National League Wild Card race. The top five seeds in the NL are set. There are two divisions in the American League that will go down to the final day.
The Cleveland Guardians, sellers at the deadline and dead in the water at the plate most of the season, are on the verge of mimicking the Detroit Tigers' wild run to the playoffs last year – while putting this year's Tigers in peril of missing the postseason.