MLB playoffs: Updated American League Wild Card standings | Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Mariners separated by 1 game

Boston Red Sox' s Jose Iglesias runs toward home to score on a triple by Christian Vazquez during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Washington.
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And down the stretch they come.

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The American League Wild-Card race has come down to the final day of the regular season.

On Saturday, the New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, 12-2, the Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Nationals, 5-3, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-1, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-4.

So here’s how the current standings look:

Red Sox (91-70): --

Yankees (91-70): --

Mariners (90-70): 1

Blue Jays (90-71): 1

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Here are the games of note for Sunday:

Red Sox at Nationals (3:05 p.m. ET)

Rays at Yankees (3:05 p.m. ET)

Orioles at Blue Jays (3:07 p.m. ET)

Angels at Mariners (3:10 p.m. ET)

Here are the Wild-Card tiebreaker scenarios:

Four-way tie for two Wild-Card spots

Each team would choose or receive an A, B, C or D designation. The club with the highest winning percentage in games among the tied clubs chooses first, second-highest chooses second, etc. On Monday, Club A (likely the Red Sox) would host Club B, and Club C (likely the Blue Jays) would host Club D. So for the Yankees, it would come down to a choice of traveling to either Boston or Toronto.

Three-team tie for two Wild-Card spots

If the Blue Jays, Yankees and Red Sox were all tied, with no other non-division winners in the AL ahead of them, the three teams would choose/receive A, B and C designations. Club A would host Club B. The winner of that game would be one Wild-Card club, while the loser would then play Club C on the road to determine the other. The winners of the two games would face each other in the Wild Card Game. The three designations are decided by head-to-head records.

Two teams tie for Wild Card

This would not involve any extra games. ... If, say, the Blue Jays and Yankees were the only two clubs in AL Wild-Card position at season’s end and had identical records, they would not play an extra game to determine who gets home-field advantage in the Wild Card Game. It would go to the team with the better head-to-head record (in that case, Toronto).

Two teams tie for the second Wild-Card spot

If, for example, the Yankees and Red Sox tied for the second AL Wild-Card spot, they’d have to play each other Monday, Oct. 4, for the right to advance to the AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday, Oct. 5. Home-field advantage would go to the team with the better head-to-head record.

Three teams tie for second Wild-Card spot

Club A hosts Club B on Monday. The winner of that game then hosts Club C on Tuesday to determine who travels for the AL Wild Card Game, which would have to be pushed back.

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Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com.

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