What's at stake in Game 162? AL East, AL Central and wild card races down to last day of MLB regular season
Plus, Cal Raleigh's home run chase has him looking up at Aaron Judge's record
By
Mike Axisa
•
4 min read
The final day of the 2025 MLB regular season has arrived. Every team has played 161 games and, for a few, Game 162 will decide their postseason fate. One spot in the tournament remain up for grabs on the season's final day as well as the AL East and AL Central. There's also one Wild Card Series bye undecided and some seeding to sort out.
As a reminder, every game Sunday begins at or around 3 p.m. ET to maximize drama. You can scoreboard watch, but you have to do it while your team is playing. Here is everything on the line on the final day of the regular season and the relevant games.
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The third NL wild card spot
Mets at Marlins: LHP Sean Manaea vs. RHP Edward Cabrera
Reds at Brewers: RHP Brady Singer vs. RHP Freddy Peralta
The most important remaining race. Two teams -- Mets and Reds -- for one postseason spot. One will head to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers in the Wild Card Series, the other will go home. The Mets and Reds have identical 83-78 records, but Cincinnati won the season series (4-2) and thus has the tiebreaker. That's an enormous advantage.
Here are the Sunday's possible outcomes:
| Mets win | Mets lose | |
|---|---|---|
Reds win | Reds are WC3 | Reds are WC3 |
Reds lose | Mets are WC3 | Reds are WC3 |
Because of that tiebreaker, the decks are stacked against the Mets. They need a win and a Reds loss. Anything else and the Reds go to the postseason while the Mets go on vacation.
Cincinnati controls their own destiny and they have won eight of their last 10 games to put themselves in this position. The Mets, meanwhile, were 45-24 on June 12. That was baseball's best record. They are 38-54 since, the fifth-worst record in baseball.
The AL East title
Orioles at Yankees: RHP Kyle Bradish vs. RHP Luis Gil
Rays at Blue Jays: LHP Ian Seymour vs. RHP Kevin Gausman
Both the Blue Jays and Yankees have already clinched spots in the postseason. We just don't know which one will be the AL East champion and which one will be the top wild card team. The Yankees and Blue Jays enter Game 162 with identical 93-68 records, though Toronto won the season series (8-5), so they hold the tiebreaker. That gives them a big leg up.
To win the AL East, the Yankees need a win and a Blue Jays loss Sunday. Any other combination of outcomes gives the Blue Jays the division title, which would be their first since 2015. The AL East champion will be the No. 1 seed and get a Wild Card Series bye. The runner-up will be the home team and play the second wild card team when the Wild Card Series begins Tuesday.
The AL Central title (and wild card seeding)
Tigers at Red Sox: RHP Chris Paddack vs. TBA
Rangers at Guardians: LHP Patrick Corbin vs. LHP Logan Allen
All things considered, the AL Central title is pretty low stakes. The Guardians and Tigers have both clinched postseason spots. They're in. One team will win the AL Central and the other will be a wild card, but unlike the AL East, there is no Wild Card Series bye attached to AL Central title. Both teams know they're playing in the Wild Card Series this coming week.
The AL Central comes with home field advantage in the Wild Card Series and both teams want that, though it is not as significant as bye/no bye with the AL East race. The second and third wild card seeds must also be sorted out. One of those teams will be the Red Sox. The other will be the AL Central runner-up.
The Tigers are in Boston this weekend, making things a little less complicated. These two games (Tigers vs. Red Sox and Rangers vs. Guardians) will settle three postseason slots. Here are the possible outcomes:
| CLE | DET | ALC | WC2 | WC3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
W | W | CLE | DET | BOS |
W | L | CLE | BOS | DET |
L | W | DET | BOS | CLE |
L | L | CLE | BOS | DET |
Odds are we'll get Guardians vs. Tigers in the Wild Card Series. Sunday will determine where that series will be played. The second wild card team will play the AL East runner-up in Toronto or New York.
It's worth noting the Tigers aren't prioritizing the AL Central title. After clinching a postseason berth Saturday, they scratched ace lefty and reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal from Sunday's start so he could be available to start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday. If Sunday were a must-win game, Skubal would have pitched. It's not, so he won't.
The Guardians, if they do win the AL Central, will complete the biggest comeback in baseball history. They were 15 ½ games behind the Tigers on July 8. The biggest comeback ever is 14 games by the 1978 Yankees.
Raleigh's home run chase
Dodgers at Mariners: LHP Clayton Kershaw vs. RHP Bryce Miller
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has already set the single-season home run record for a catcher, a switch-hitter, and a Mariner. Aaron Judge's AL single-season record is within reach on the final day of the season. Judge hit 62 home runs in 2022. Raleigh will enter Game 162 with 60 homers. As it stands, he is only the seventh player in history to his 60 home runs in a season.
Here is the AL's single-season home run leaderboard:
- Aaron Judge, 2022: 62
- Roger Maris, 1961: 61
- Cal Raleigh, 2025: 60 and counting
- Babe Ruth, 1927: 60
- Babe Ruth, 1921: 59
Raleigh need two home runs to tie Judge and three to pass him. Doable? Absolutely. Raleigh has 11 multi-homer games this year. That ties Judge (2022), Sammy Sosa (1998), and Hank Greenberg (1938) for the most in a season in baseball history. Raleigh has never had a three-homer game, however. Sunday would be a good time for the first of his career, no?
