Playoff Countdown: The board is getting set as the season comes to its end

Matchups are coming to fruition and teams are finding out where they are going or who’s coming to them

With just one day left in the regular season, the postseason bracket gets set as team’s claim their positions and find out who they will be facing first.

Let’s see what has developed further in today’s Playoff Countdown.

Houston Astros (88-73): 4, Cleveland Guardians (92-69): 3

Facing off against a team that was fighting for the top seed in the American League, the Astros came out and got things done. In what could be Justin Verlander’s final regular season start as an Astros, the lineup gave him what he needed and got him the win.

Kicking things off right away, Zach Dezenzo put the Astros on the board in the top of the first with an RBI-single before Jose Ramirez put Cleveland ahead 2-1 with a two-run blast to right field.

This lead didn’t last long though as the Astros got another three runs across in the top of the second thanks to a bases loaded walk and a two-run on a throwing error by the Cleveland shortstop, giving them a 4-2 lead that they didn’t give up.

Verlander did give up one more run, this time in the bottom of the third, before settling down and shutting Cleveland down the rest of his outing. Leaving after six innings of work with a one-run lead, it was up to the bullpen to finish the game off.

And that is exactly what they did. Neither team got another run across the whole game as both bullpens shut down both offenses, leading to a 4-3 Astros win. With this win, the Guardians handed over the number one seed to the Yankees, who now have a first round bye and home field for the ALCS.

Kansas City Royals (85-76): 1, Atlanta Braves (88-71): 2

A low scoring walk off win for the Braves keeps the Royals a game back of the Tigers for the second Wild Card spot and leaves them in line for the Astros. Only a Tigers’ loss and a Royals win would give them a chance to change that.

This loss came at the very end. The Royals got their run in the top of the third off the bat of Dairon Blanco, who hit into an RBI-double play, and Atlanta’s came in the bottom of the fourth off the bat of Ramon Laureano, who got a run in on a fielding error by Kansas City.

This 1-1 score brought the game to the bottom of the ninth where, with one out, Travis d’Arnaud crushed a ball to center field for the walk off 2-1 win. Kansas City has one more game to try and regain their lead over the Tigers if they don’t want to have to come to Houston in the first round.

Chicago White Sox (40-121): 4, Detroit Tigers (86-75): 0

Just a day after their record breaking loss, the White Sox came back and shut down the Tigers’ offense just when they were in need for a win. The Tigers are in a prime spot to make one of the best comebacks we have ever seen, but are they going to be doing it from the five or six seed?

The Sox got themselves on the board early with a bomb from Bryan Ramos in the top of the second to give them the lead and that’s where they stayed. They added one another run to that in the sixth with an RBI-single from Andrew Vaughn to put them up 2-0.

Their last two came courtesy of Andrew Benintendi who, after a leadoff walk, smacked a deep fly-ball to right that went over the fence for a two-run blast, putting them up 4-0 in the top of the eighth.

The Sox held the Braves to just three hits the entire game and now make the final game of the season a must win for them if they want to stay in their position.