My National League dream of playoff chaos is still alive

On Thursday I posted my dream scenario for the National League with the Phillies and Mets tying for the NL East lead, the Brewers and Cubs tying for the NL Central lead and the Phillies, Mets, Padres and Rockies all tying for the Wild Card.

With one day left, the only tie settled is in the NL Central where the Cubs have clinched the division. The Diamondbacks have also clinched home field in the National League playoffs and will face the Chicago Cubs in the first round. The NL East winner will have home field advantage in the first round against the Wild Card winner.

With one game left, here is how the National League shakes out...

ARZ 90 71 --- West 1
SDP 89 72 1.0 West 2 - WC 1
NYM 88 73 2.0 East 1t - WC 2t
PHI 88 73 2.0 East 1t - WC 2t
COL 88 73 2.0 West 3 - WC 2t

For maximum chaos, I would like to see the following happen on Sunday:

1) The Brewers beat the Padres. If the Padres win, they clinch a playoff spot regardless of the other outcomes. This loss would leave the Padres with 89 wins.
2) The Rockies beat the Diamondbacks to finish with 89 wins.
3) The Mets beat the Marlins to finish with 89 wins.
4) The Phillies beat the Nationals to finish with 89 wins.

If this all happens, here is how the standings would look Sunday night...

ARZ 90 72 --- West 1
SDP 89 73 1.0 West 2t - WC 1t
NYM 89 73 1.0 East 1t - WC 1t
PHI 89 73 1.0 East 1t - WC 1t
COL 89 73 1.0 West 2t - WC 1t

Two teams tie for the NL East title and would need a tiebreaker game and 4 teams would tie for the Wild Card requiring more tiebreaker games.

Here's a look at the tiebreaker scenarios...

The easy scenarios

1) If the Mets & Phillies have the same record, they will have a one-game tiebreaker in Philadelphia. The location was determined with a coin flip a few weeks back.

2) If the Padres win, they are the NL Wild Card. If Arizona loses, the Padres and D'Backs would tie for the NL West (and best record in the NL) but Arizona wins on the head-to-head tiebreaker 10-8.

If the Padres lose, all hell could break loose.

3) If the Padres lose and the Mets, Phillies and Rockies lose, then the Padres are the Wild Card team.

The tricky scenarios

1) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Lose, Phillies Lose

-The Mets & Phillies play Monday in Philadelphia to decide the NL East winner.
-The Padres & Rockies play Monday in Colorado to decide the NL Wild Card.

2) Padres Lose, Rockies Lose, Mets Lose, Phillies Win

-The Phillies are the NL East champion and will host the Padres in the NLDS.
-The Padres are the NL Wild Card and will start the NLDS in Philadelphia.

3) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Lose, Phillies Win

-The Padres & Rockies play Monday in Colorado to decide the NL Wild Card.
-The Phillies are the NL East champion and will host the Wild Card winner in the NLDS.

4) Padres Lose, Rockies Lose, Mets Win, Phillies Lose

-The Mets are the NL East champion and will host the Padres in the NLDS.
-The Padres are the NL Wild Card and will start the NLDS in New York.

5) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Win, Phillies Lose

-The Padres & Rockies play Monday in Colorado to decide the NL Wild Card.
-The Mets are the NL East champion and will host the Wild Card winner in the NLDS.

6) Padres Lose, Rockies Lose, Mets Win, Phillies Win

-The Mets & Phillies play Monday in Philadelphia to decide the NL East winner.
-The loser of the Mets vs Phillies game plays San Diego on Tuesday to decide the Wild Card winner. If the Mets play the Padres, the game will be in New York, if the Phillies play the Padres, the game will be in San Diego.

7) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Win, Phillies Win (The crazy scenario)

-The Mets & Phillies play Monday in Philadelphia to decide the NL East winner.
-The loser of the Phillies vs Mets game joins the Rockies and Padres in a 3-team tie for the NL Wild Card.
-With three teams, the wild card tiebreaker games will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team with the best head-to-head record among the 3 finalists gets to choose if it would rather have a bye on Tuesday (the right choice) or play both games at home. The Rockies have the best head-to-head record between these 3 teams (regardless of the 3rd team being the Mets or Phillies) and I would assume that they would take a bye. In that case, the NL East loser and Padres would play an elimination game in either San Diego (if it's the Phillies) or New York (if it's the Mets) on Tuesday.
-The winner of Tuesday's game would then host the Rockies on Wednesday in the final tie-breaker game to determine the NL Wild Card winner.

That's it. See how simple it is :) But first, the Padres have to lose to the Brewers.