The battle between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees for the AL East division title and top seed in the American League is the headliner north of the border, but there are three playoff races set to be determined in Major League Baseball’s closing weekend.
With three games left on the schedule, the Blue Jays and Yankees sit atop the American League standings at 91-68. Both teams open their final series of the season on Friday, with the Jays hosting the Tampa Bay Rays (77-82) and the Yankees hosting the Baltimore Orioles (75-84).
Toronto has the tiebreaker, owing to their victory in the season series over the Yankees, meaning their magic number to clinch the division sits at three. Any combination of three wins by the Jays or three losses by the Yankees earns Toronto its first AL East title since the 2015 season, and only second since the 1993 campaign.
The Blue Jays are facing an opponent that has given them a ton of trouble in 2025. Their seven losses against the Rays are the most against any single opponent this season, and their winning percentage of .300 against Tampa Bay is the lowest against any opponent they’ve played more than three times this year.
Shane Bieber makes the start at home on Friday, followed by rookie Trey Yesavage - who overwhelmed the Rays in his MLB debut earlier this month, punching out nine batters in five one-run frames - and Kevin Gausman in the season finale, if the division has not been clinched by that time. The Rays counter with Adrian Houser, Joe Boyle and Ian Seymour.
The Yankees have surged from a five-game deficit on Sept. 16 thanks to an 8-1 record over their last nine games. The Yankees have a 6-4 record against Baltimore this year, including taking two of three in their series a week ago.
The loser between the Jays and Yankees gets the top wild-card spot. Which teams get the other two?
With the top wild-card spot locked up already, three teams are left to fight for the final two spots over the weekend - and two of them may be playing one another.
The Boston Red Sox (87-72) enter the weekend as the top contender, followed by the Detroit Tigers/Cleveland Guardians (86-73) and Houston Astros (85-74).
Detroit’s historic collapse - the Tigers have lost 11 of their last 13 - has turned an 8.5-game division lead in the AL Central into a tie with the Guardians. Cleveland plays their final three games of the season against the flailing Texas Rangers, while the Tigers battle the Red Sox.
The main beneficiary of this schedule is the Guardians, who will make progress towards either clinching the AL Central (if the Red Sox beat the Tigers in their three-game set) or clinching a wild-card spot, if the Tigers come out on top.
Detroit will have Casey Mize on the mound on Friday against Kyle Harrison at Fenway Park, with no announced starter chosen for Saturday’s game. If it comes down to Sunday’s game to decide the Tigers’ fate, Detroit is lined up to have Cy Young favourite Tarik Skubal pitching to help push them to a playoff spot.
While not officially eliminated yet, the Astros are definitely on the outside looking in. In a pivotal series against the Seattle Mariners last weekend that essentially decided the AL West winner, the Astros came out flat and were swept. With losses in five of their last six, Houston needs a big weekend against the Los Angeles Angels to salvage any hope of a postseason appearance.
Three teams, one spot: Who is the final wild-card team in the National League?
Strong seasons by the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres wrapped up wild-card seeds for them earlier in September, but three teams are still alive in the fight for the final spot: the New York Mets (82-77), Cincinnati Reds (81-78) and Arizona Diamondbacks (80-79).
The Mets have been in a tailspin since before the All-Star break, yet are still in the driver’s seat entering the final weekend of the year. Midway through June, the Mets toppled the Washington Nationals to win their sixth consecutive game and improve to 45-24 - the best record in the majors. Since then, the Mets (armed with the highest payroll in baseball) have gone 37-53, third worst in the league.
It can all be erased with three wins on the road against the division-rival Miami Marlins this weekend.
The Reds trail the Mets by a game but do own the season tiebreaker. Working against them though is the fact that their series this weekend is on the road in Milwaukee against the best team in baseball, the Brewers. Cincinnati is 3-7 against Milwaukee this year.
The Diamondbacks will need a lot of help to pass both the Reds and Mets, as they do not own the tiebreaker over either side and are also on the road for the final series of the season against a tough divisional opponent in the Padres.
