Game changer: Wild Card format continues to thrill

The Wild Card, once derided as a mere gimmick, has now become an indispensable part of baseball’s September landscape.

This year, five of the six division races are all but decided. The Cubs clinched the National League Central after a Sept. 15 loss, and have nearly clinched home-field advantage through the NL postseason. The Nationals have a comfortable lead in the NL East. The Dodgers have a lead that is only slightly less comfortable in the NL West.

The Rangers, with the American League’s best record, are on the verge of clinching the West. The Indians are closing in on their own division title in the Central. The one race that looked like it could be a classic run to the wire, the AL East, saw the Red Sox open up a lead with seven straight victories over division rivals — four against the Yankees, three against the Orioles.

Where is the vast majority of baseball’s September drama; the taut, tight, tense races that are virtually built into the game’s calendar? That stuff is in the chase for the Wild Card spots.

• Wild Card standings

There are seven teams still alive in the AL Wild Card hunt for two Wild card berths. Six of them were within 2 1/2 games a Wild Card berth after Wednesday night’s games. The seventh is the Royals, and if they are on the margins of this race, they are also the defending World Series champions and some respect must still be shown for their demonstrated comeback abilities.

The other clubs, in order of their standing going into Wednesday night, were Toronto, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Seattle and New York.

In …

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