Marlins Playoff Race Heating Up

MLB’s regular season is coming to a close. The Miami Marlins (82-76) are competing with the Arizona Diamondbacks (84-75), Chicago Cubs (82-76), Cincinnati Reds (81-78) and San Diego Padres (79-80) for the last two National League wildcard spots. Time is ticking as the playoffs begin on Tuesday.

Crunch Time for the Marlins

With four games left in the season, the Marlins need to make the most of every one of them. With the Diamondbacks two games up over the competition, they will look to quickly seal the deal to secure one of the final two spots. The Marlins are coming off of a big win against the Mets. They won the second game of a double-header that they played this past Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1707228099631260086

The Cubs dropped a game that went into extra innings against the Atlanta Braves (102-56), who have the best record in the league. The combination of the Marlins’ win and the Cubs’ loss even things up as both teams sit at 82-76. The Marlins will play one last game against the Mets on Thursday before heading into their final three games of the regular season against the Pittsburgh Pirates (74-84).  Luckily for the Marlins, their hard work looks like it will pay off. They hold the tiebreaker over the Cubs after winning four out of the six games they played against each other in the regular season. This means that the Marlins have the third wildcard spot.

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The Competition

The Diamondbacks only need two more wins to secure a spot in the post season. After losing to the Chicago White Sox (61-98) on Thursday, the Diamondbacks only have three more games left. These final games are all against the Houston Astros (87-72), who are fighting for a wildcard spot in the American League.

Final. pic.twitter.com/irnlwnOzus

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 28, 2023

Just like the Marlins, the Cubs have four games left in their season. They lost their last two games to the Braves and play them one more time on Thursday. From there, they close out their season with three games against the Milwaukee Brewers (89-69).

The Reds are one game behind the Marlins and Cubs and are looking to close the gap. With three games left on their schedule, they will need to come up big in their series against the St. Louis Cardinals (69-85).

The Padres will be looking for a miracle as they currently sit three games back behind the Marlins and Cubs and two games behind the Reds. They will need to sweep the White Sox in their final series of the season. If they don’t, their their season will come to an end.

Playoffs

The playoff race will end on Sunday with the final games of the regular season. Some of these teams will try to secure their future before that, but others will have to wait.

The first round of the playoffs begins on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies (89-69) will be waiting for whichever two teams make it in.