3 more wins = Wild Card game at Great American Ballpark

Published Sep. 25, 2013 9:50 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Reds have four games left in their season, and are three games behind the St Louis Cardinals for the NL Central title. That might be too much of a deficit to overcome, especially with the Cards playing the Chicago Cubs over the weekend.
Therefore, the new goal for Cincinnati is to host the Wild Card game next Tuesday. The Wild Card is a one-game playoff, and home-field advantage is extremely important.
Three more wins will get the Reds that home game. Here's how...

The Reds are currently in the 2nd Wild Card slot and would travel to Pittsburgh for the one-game playoff if the season ended today. Here's the standings;
------------------------NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL DIVISION STANDINGS

Top team wins NL Central, other two will play a one-game Wild Card Playoff game on October 1st, at the second-place team's stadium.

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Next opponent
St Louis	93	65	.589	---	vs Washington
Pittsburgh	91	67	.576	2.0	at Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati	90	68	.570	3.0	vs New York Mets

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Let's say for argument's sake that the Reds win against the N.Y. Mets and take two of three this weekend vs Pittsburgh. Those three wins will get the Reds to 93-69 on the year, and the Pirates would finish with an equal 93-69 record.
According to MLB tiebreaker rules, when two teams are tied for the Wild Card, home field is determined by head-to-head records.
As of this moment, the Reds and Pirates have split their first 16 games and are both 8-8. Taking two of three this weekend will hand the tiebreaker to the Reds and give them home-field advantage for Tuesday's Wild Card game.
There you have it. Win three more games, starting this afternoon at 12:30pm. Skip work and watch it on FOX Sports Ohio. I'll write a note for your boss. He or she will understand.