7 teams still contending for 4 Wild Card spots

The 2016 regular season is heading into its final weekend.

Although each of the six division races has been settled, much remains up in the air as each club plays its last series. Seven teams begin today in contention for the four Wild Card berths, and of the six division champions, only the Cubs are locked into a particular seed. That leaves plenty of questions about home-field advantage to be answered over the next few days.

Standings | Wild Card standings | Tiebreaker scenarios

Here’s where we stand heading into today:

American League Wild Card

This is now officially a four-team race, as the Orioles’ 4-0 win over the Blue Jays on Thursday not only created a tie atop the AL Wild Card standings but also eliminated both the Astros and Yankees. Going into the final three days, the Tigers are 1 1/2 games behind the Jays and Orioles, while the Mariners are two games back.

Although Baltimore took two of three from Toronto in the teams’ final regular-season set, the Jays still eked out the season series, 10-9. That means that if they finish tied for the two Wild Card spots, Toronto would host the AL Wild Card Game next Tuesday. However, both clubs still have work to do, with the Jays starting a series at AL East champion Boston tonight, while the O’s travel to Yankee Stadium.

The Tigers’ situation grew more complicated on Thursday, when their home finale against the AL Central champion Indians was rained out. For now, Detroit heads to Atlanta to finish its schedule, but if the missed game turns out to have any postseason implications, it will be made up on Monday. If things go well for the Tigers, that means they potentially could play on Sunday in Atlanta, on Monday back in Detroit, then on Tuesday in Baltimore or Toronto in a tiebreaker game for a Wild Card spot, before Wednesday’s Wild Card Game.

Seattle also stayed …

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