What happens in a tie for an MLB playoff spot?

There is no more Game 163!

And what happens in a tie for a playoff spot?

Remember the chaos of a one-game tiebreaker? Think back to the 1978 Yankees-Red Sox game where Bucky Dent’s homer decided the AL East, and the 2007 Rockies-Padres 13-inning slugfest for the NL Wild Card. Those days are gone.

Since MLB expanded the postseason to 12 teams in 2022, ties are now broken by math. The goal: start October baseball on time and avoid long layoffs for top seeds with byes.

Here’s how it works:

• 6 teams per league make it: 3 division winners + 3 Wild Cards

• Top 2 division winners get a bye to the Division Series

• Seeds 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 face off in best-of-three Wild Card rounds (higher seed hosts)

And if two teams are tied?

The order is:

1) Head-to-head record

2) Division record

3) League record

4) Record in the 2nd half of league games (post-All-Star break)

5)…Keep going back one game until it’s broken

Example: Let’s say the Yankees and Blue Jays both finish atop the AL East. No Game 163. Instead, Toronto wins the division because they went 8-5 against New York in head-to-head play.

The drama of October baseball remains—but it’s math, not an extra game, that decides who gets in.