Playoff Countdown: The Astros get an unexpected day off and the Tigers suffer a huge loss

Meanwhile, the Royals get themselves and their postseason spot locked in.

With one day left in the regular season, the stage has been set for the postseason in the AL, with the final spot in the NL Wild Card race still in flux. But everyone in the Junior Circuit knows where they are going, who they are facing, and the times.

Let’s see how all this went down in today’s Playoff Countdown.

Houston Astros (88-73), Cleveland Guardians (92-69); CANCELED

Due to the weather, the game between the two was canceled. It won’t be made up due to the Wild Card games getting started tomorrow, so both the Guardians and Astros will have 161-game seasons.

Kansas City Royals (86-76): 4, Atlanta Braves (88-72): 2

In a huge game for the Royals, they were able to pull away with a win thanks to amazing pitching from their bullpen, who went four innings and threw shutout ball.

The Royals got on the board immediately with two leadoff hits to set up Michael Massey. He stepped up and, after a good at-bat, took the sixth pitch of the AB deep to right to put them up 3-0.

This was all the Royals needed for the win. The Braves got on the board for their first time in the third with a solo shot from Gio Urshela and the teams traded runs in the fourth to bring the score to what would end up being its final, 4-2.

This win put the Royals a half-game back of the Tigers in the AL Wild Card matchup, meaning they were all watching the Tigers’ game to see if they were going to Houston or Baltimore.

Detroit Tigers (86-76): 5, Chicago White Sox (41-121): 9

In need of one win to be the fifth seed, the red-hot Tigers didn’t pull through. They got stomped when they needed it most, sending them to Houston and the Royals to Baltimore.

It started immediately with the White Sox getting two runs in the second and three in the third. The first two came from a Korey Lee RBI single and a Dominic Fletcher sac fly and the next three came from a Lenyn Sosa three-run bomb.

Detroit brought it back to a one-run game thanks to a Kerry Carpenter grand slam in the bottom of the fifth, but the Sox answered all those runs back in the top of the seventh to give themselves a 9-4 lead.

Atlanta got another run in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough to come back, giving the Sox a 9-5 win and sending the Tigers to Houston. With their loss, the stages for the Wild Card are officially set, with the Tigers facing the Astros in Houston and the Royals facing the Orioles in Baltimore.