2016 Tiebreaker Scenarios

For all the numbers of notoriety in the increasingly data-driven sport of baseball, the one still paramount in the 162-game schedule is winning percentage.

But what happens when even that supreme stat can’t decide things?

Somehow, we’ve gotten through four seasons of October expansion and only required one tiebreaker game — the 2013 tilt between the Rays and Rangers to decide the second American League Wild Card slot. But plenty of tiebreaker possibilities exist here in the home stretch of 2016, and the goal here is to lay out the most realistic ones remaining and how they would be settled.

• Up-to-the-minute standings

Scenario: Two teams tie for the division

Ah, the classic divisional push. We’ll use the Dodgers and Giants as the example here. If they were to finish the year in a tie atop the National League West, they would play a one-game tiebreaker on Monday, Oct. 3. Home-field advantage would go to the club with the better head-to-head record* (the Giants hold a 7-6 edge, with six meetings remaining). The winner of this game would advance to the Division Series round, while the loser would either head to the NL Wild Card Game or head home, depending on whether it qualifies for the Wild Card.

*Note that if the head-to-head matchup is a draw, home-field advantage in all scenarios listed below goes to the team with the better intradivision record or, failing that, the team with the better intraleague record.

• How to determine playoff tiebreakers

Scenario: Three teams tie for the division

Still a pertinent possibility in the AL East. If the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Orioles all finished with the same record, they would receive an A, B or C designation. Club A would host Club B on Oct. 3, and the winner would host Club C the following day. The winner of that game would be the division champ.

Think of this almost like a draft, and the team with the “first pick” can choose the scenario it likes best. A team might rather play two games than one if it gets to host both, which is why a team might choose to be Club A over Club C. On the other hand, a team could choose Club C designation if it wants to rest a star pitcher and take its chance in one winner-take-all game, even if it is on the road.

Selection order would be based on the head-to-head records, which are very much in flux with those three clubs facing each …

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