BOSTON -- The Cubs know they are in the playoffs as a Wild Card team on the National League side. The Red Sox have secured their place in the postseason as the second Wild Card in the American League. But there is one last wrinkle being thrown into the mix for Game 162 of the regular season.
With a major nor’easter expected to impact the Boston area this weekend, the Red Sox announced on Friday that the planned game for Saturday at Fenway Park has been moved to a neutral site. The Cubs and Red Sox will be heading to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg for a 3:05 p.m. ET game on Sunday.
“It’s the last game of the regular season,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Look, both clubs have their competing interests on what they want to have happen. And the league’s kind of got to be the guy in the middle. The Red Sox have a different scenario and we have a scenario.
“I think from the players’ perspective, it’s just, ‘Show up and play.’ Everybody else worries about all this other stuff. The players get to play. That’s why it’s fun being a player. So, it’s not really a big deal for us.”
The Cubs clinched their place in the NL playoff picture with their win over the Marlins on Thursday at Wrigley Field. The team then headed to Boston for a doubleheader on Friday (Sunday’s game was moved up as the day game) and originally had a 7:15 p.m. ET tilt on the schedule for Saturday.
What the North Siders do not have secured just yet is which Wild Card seed they will wind up with when the smoke clears on the season. With a 4-3 loss to Boston in Game 1 of the twin bill, the Cubs slipped to 1 1/2 games behind the Padres for the top Wild Card spot and only held a half-game lead over the Phillies for the third seed. Chicago holds tiebreakers over both the Padres and Phillies.
If the Cubs finish tied for the top Wild Card seed, they would return home to Wrigley Field to host a Wild Card Series. Otherwise, Chicago will be hitting the road once again after the one-game stop in Florida.
“These situations just really force you to just be like, ‘There’s not much you can do about it,’” Cubs starter Clay Holmes said. “You can’t control this. We’ll show up and do the things that we can. Whatever that is, wherever that is, we’re going to go play.
“Not ideal, but sometimes, [these things] help you just take your hands off and really, wherever the game is, just go compete. We’ll see what we have these next few days, but wherever that is, I think we’ll be ready to play.”
As for the Red Sox, their win over the Cubs in the opener of the doubleheader clinched the No. 5 seed in the AL postseason landscape. That means, no matter how the rest of the regular season goes, Boston will be headed to New York to face the rival Yankees in a Wild Card Series.
"They packed for 11 days,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. “ I just told them, ‘Pack. Be ready to be on the road for 11 days, if necessary.’ You go from there to [New York]. Then, if you win that, you go back down [to Tropicana Field to face the Rays in the AL Division Series]. So yeah, just pack for the next week and a half, and be ready to roll, and we'll adjust.”