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First Pitch: There Will Be Playoff Baseball at PNC Park This October

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Since two of the three relevant playoff games were on the West Coast tonight, I decided to combine the playoff update with First Pitch. Well, that, and also due to the fact that I’ve been getting ready to leave to cover the playoffs, where hopefully I’ll be gone for more than just a week, and preferably a month.

The Pirates got in a better situation for that to happen tonight. They beat the Reds, and the Giants lost to the Padres. That means they are at least guaranteed one playoff game at PNC Park this year, which would be the Wild Card game. They could improve on their standings by taking the division from the Cardinals, which would put them right in the NLDS, with at least one playoff game at PNC. Below are the updated scenarios after today’s games.

NL Central

Pirates 3, Reds 1

Cardinals 7, Diamondbacks 6

The Pirates won today, but the Cardinals held on to beat the Diamondbacks in extra innings, maintaining their 1.0 game division lead.

To win the division outright, the Pirates will need to go 2-0, with the Cardinals going 0-2.

A playoff game, to be played in St. Louis, would be held on Monday if the following occurs this weekend:

**Cardinals go 1-1, Pirates go 2-0

**Cardinals go 0-2, Pirates go 1-1

Wild Card

Pirates 3, Reds 1

Padres 4, Giants 1

The Pirates entered today with a magic number of 2, which means their win and San Francisco’s loss clinched home field in the Wild Card game. San Francisco could tie the Pirates by winning their next two, with the Pirates losing their next two. However, the Pirates own the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head record, which would put the Wild Card game in PNC, even if the two teams were tied.

Playoff Seeding

Here are the current playoff seeds if the season would end today. The winner of the Wild Card game would go on to play the Washington Nationals, who clinched home field advantage today.

1. Washington

2. Los Angeles

3. St. Louis

4. Pittsburgh

5. San Francisco

Links and Notes

**Charlie Morton Undergoes Hip Surgery

**What Are the Odds of the Pirates Winning the NL Central?

**Morning Report: West Virginia’s Prospect List is Second to None in the System

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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