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One and not done: Brews-Cubs, Rockies-Dodgers in tiebreakers
By BEN WALKER, AP Baseball Writer
Triple Crown contender Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field. Nolan Arenado and the big-hitting Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
October baseball is about to begin with Game No. 163 on Monday.
Two tiebreakers on the same day for the first time in major league history. Both to divvy up divisions, too.
“It’s interesting that baseball is such a perfect game in some ways that it takes 162 to not decide anything,” Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and the Cubs begin the doubleheader drama
when they host Milwaukee for the NL Central crown. Later in the afternoon, Dodgers rookie Walker Buehler is set to start when Los Angeles faces Colorado for the NL West title.
There’s a catch, though.
All four teams are already assured playoff spots, either as a division champ or wild card. The Dodgers, Rockies, Brewers and Cubs knew that going into Sunday, the final scheduled day of the regular season, and then romped by a combined score of 48-5.
So, it means this: These matchups are not one-and-done.
Never before has a team that lost a tie- breaker got to keep playing. Bucky Dent’s
pop-fly homer finished off the Red Sox in 1978. Matt Holliday slid home — and maybe touched the plate — to eliminate San Diego in 2007. David Price pitched Tampa Bay past Texas in 2013 to win the most recent matchup.
This time, they’re all in. But, there’s still a big difference between winning the division or going into the postseason as a wild card.
The Brewers-Cubs winner gets to start the best-of-five Division Series at home on Thursday against the wild card win- ner. The Colorado-Los Angeles winner also begins the NLDS at home versus Atlanta.
“It’s a game where obviously it’s not
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