On Your Mark: A wild look at the MLB Wild Cards

It was the final day of the regular season, and all seemed prime to blow in regard to the American Wild Card.

Until it didn’t.

The Texas Rangers, N.Y. Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels went into the final day with something to play for. Even the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates had home-field advantage on the line.

But because the Rangers pulled out a 9-2 win over the Angels, it made the rest pretty much a moot point. The Yankees and Astros both lost, and the idea of playoffs for the playoffs are no more. Texas held its division lead, and the Astros are forced to go on the road in a Wild Card matchup with the Yankees.

If you’re wondering what could’ve happened:

A Rangers loss and Astros win: Playoff for the AL West title

An Angels win and Astros loss: Playoff for the second Wild Card spot

A Yankees loss and Astros win: Houston takes top wild card spot by virtue of a 4-3 edge in the season series.

But anyway, now we know. So let’s take a quick look at the two matchups that will get us primed for the divisional round.

National League

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, Oct. 7 (8 p.m., TBS)

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the more consistent units in the past two seasons, unfortunately they exist in a division with the St. Louis Cardinals, who have relegated the Bucs to a Wild Card appearance both years. While that may be frustrating for a team that endured an 11-year postseason drought before its recent resurgence, there is something to be said for a team that features a wealth of experience in the win-or-go-home format. They’ll send ace Gerritt Cole (19-4, 2.60 ERA) to the mound, who went 2-1 with a 2.13 ERA in four starts against the Cubs this year.

Cole did not pitch in last year’s 8-0 Wild Card loss to the San Francisco Giants. Manager Clint Hurdle opted to send Cole to the mound on the final day of the regular season in an attempt to catch the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates won, but so did the Cardinals, forcing Pittsburgh into a one-game playoff without their ace.

On the other side, the Chicago Cubs are making their first appearance in the playoffs since 2008. In that vein, they haven’t made it past the divisional round since 2003 when a man by the name of Steve Bartman became a villain, robbing what could have been an out from Moises Alou as a fly ball skirted the left field stands in the eighth inning of the NLCS. The Cubs were up 3-0 in the game, and led the series 3-2. The Florida Marlins went on to score eight runs in that inning, won the game 8-3 and won Game 7, keeping the Cubs from a chance at a World Series and their first title since 1908. Needless to say, there’s a bit of angst among the Cubs fanbase.

With that in mind, this season seems to have a bit of magic to it. Young players are making big impacts and a middling starter named Jake Arrietta (22-6, 1.77) has suddenly found Cy Young-caliber form in the second half of the season.

In the offseason, the Cubs brought in Jon Lester. The cancer survivor is a two-time World Series winner (2007, 2012) and the starter in last year’s Wild Card game for the Oakland Athletics after a midseason trade from Boston. At that point, it would’ve been hard to imagine anyone but the big-game lefty taking the mound in a one-game playoff. But this stat, along with many others, would make it hard to argue for anything else: Arrietta has only allowed nine earned runs since the all-star break in 109.1 innings. Nine. N-I-N-E. That makes for a 0.75 ERA in the second half, the lowest in league history.

That run includes a no-hitter and a few other close calls. This one looks pretty cut and dry.

Add that to Anthony Rizzo’s breakout season, the emergence of rookies like Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber, and the mad scientist nature of manager Joe Maddon – in his I-know-something-you-don’t glasses – and this just might be the team to break the curse. MIGHT BE.

National League

Houston Astros at N.Y. Yankees, Tuesday, Oct. 6 (8 p.m., ESPN)

The Yankees are bulletproof, it would seem.

Two years ago, they said goodbye to Mariano Rivera, the best closer of all time – it’s not even worth arguing.

Last year, they bid farewell to Derek Jeter, the man who arrived on a team with more history than any other and somehow left as indellible a legacy as any of the Yankees greats. This team has been hurt, it’s been knocked down, it’s had to withstand the firestorm that is Alex Rodriguez, and still, they’re playing as the schedule flips into October. The Yankees are certainly not the most talented team in the playoffs, but it would be difficult to argue there is one more resilient.

Masahiro Tanaka (12-7, 3.51) will likely take the mound for New York in the Wild Card tilt, a pitcher who has had ups and down, fighting through an injury-riddled first two seasons. Has he adopted that resilient Yankees demeanor? If so, I like this team’s chances.

The Houston Astros spent most of the season as the front-runner for the AL West. They seemed almost certain to break into the postseason for their first appearance since 2005, and their first since being redistricted from the National League a few seasons ago. Building through the draft with players like ace starter Dallas Keuchel and finding key free agents like diminutive firestarter Jose Altuve (94 stolen bases the past two seasons), they seemed the next team to break out of a long funk like the Kansas City Royals of 2014.

That all seemed to change when the Texas Rangers kicked into high gear in the second half of the season. Texas locked up the division with a victory over the Angels on Sunday. The Astros lost, but did just enough to hold on to the second Wild Card spot. It was likely a lot closer than they had hoped, but I’m sure they’ll take a return to the postseason after such a woeful stretch of baseball the past 10 years.

Having pitched on Friday, Keuchel will have to go on three days rest, but that’s still likely to be the case for the Astros. Keuchel (20-8, 2.48) is the unquestioned ace.

Of note

After a wet and wild Week 6 that left many teams playing on odd days, area teams are returning to Friday-night action as region play continues. The highlight will likely be North Myrtle Beach (4-2) at Georgetown (5-1). Both teams have overcome slow starts to be right in the thick of Region VII-AA action. … The first race in the Contender Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup will take NASCAR’s best to Charlotte for Bank of America 500 at 7 p.m. Saturday, broadcast on NBC. … The Presidents Cup begins Thursday, with the U.S. team including player of the year Jordan Spieth and CCU alumnus Dustin Johnson. Check in the Sun News all week for expansive coverage of the event.

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 10:58 AM with the headline "On Your Mark: A wild look at the MLB Wild Cards."