Major league Baseball tie - breaking procedures - wikipedia Major league Baseball tie - breaking procedures This article is about tie - breaking in season - long team standings. For tie - breaking in an individual game, see extra innings. This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( January 2013 ) Because inclusion in the Major League Baseball postseason is based upon the teams ' regular - season records, procedures exist to break ties between teams. Contents 1 Ties between two teams 1.1 Two - way tie for the division or wildcard 1.2 Breaking ties without playoff games 1.3 Ties between two division winners 2 Ties among multiple teams 2.1 Playoff games for multiple - way ties 2.2 Determining team designations 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Ties between two teams Two - way tie for the division or wildcard Main article : One - game playoff One - game tiebreakers are played between teams tied for a division championship or a league 's second wildcard berth. These games are to be played the day after the season is scheduled to end. Home - field advantage is determined using the rules listed below ( `` Breaking Ties Without Playoff Games '' ). From the implementation of the wildcard in 1994 to the end of the 2011 season, a different rule was in place. Two teams tied for a division did not play a tiebreaker if their records were better than all non-division winners in their league. Instead, such a tie was broken using the rules listed below ( `` Breaking Ties Without Playoff Games '' ). This scenario happened in the 2001 Major League Baseball season when the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals tied for first place in the National League Central. The Astros were awarded the division title by virtue of a better head - to - head record against the Cardinals, while St. Louis received the wildcard berth. With, however, the adoption of a second wildcard berth and a wildcard game beginning in the 2012 season, the non-division winner with the best record in the league faces possible elimination on the first day of the postseason. As a result, the tie - breaking rules were changed so that two teams tied for a division championship must play a tie - breaking game even if both teams have already qualified for the postseason. The team losing the tie - breaking game will now qualify for a wildcard berth only if its regular - season record is among the league 's two best records for non-division - winners. If that team is tied for the second wild - card spot, a second tie - breaking game would then be played. If, on the other hand, two teams are tied for the first wildcard slot, no tie - breaking game is played. Rather, the two teams simply play against each other in the wildcard game, with home - field advantage awarded using tie - breaking rules described in the next section. Breaking Ties Without playoff games The team with the better record in head to head play. The team with the best overall record in intradivision games. * The team with the best overall record in intraleague games. The team with the best record in the final 81 games of the season, ignoring interleague play. The team with the best record in the final 82 games of the season ( provided the game added is not between the tied teams ), extending backward until the tie is broken ( Interleague games are skipped and ignored in this process. ) all current references in mlb.com website indicate that this rule applies even for teams that are not in the same division. Ties between two division winners If two champions from separate divisions have the same record, the tiebreaking procedure listed above is used to determine postseason seeding. No additional games are played. Ties among multiple teams Playoff games for multiple - way Ties Tied teams are designated as A, B, C, and D. Choice for one of these designations is first given to the team winning the tie - breakers ( listed below ). While A is usually the `` best '' designation, there are some scenarios where C has a different path to the postseason. If a division title is up for grabs, then those divisional teams will select from the first designations ( A, B,... ). On Day 1, A will host B and C will host D ( if there is no fourth team, C will be considered to have won this game ). Games on Day 2 may occur as follows : If the teams are all competing for 1 playoff spot, then the A / B winner will host the C / D winner for that spot. If 3 teams, not all tied for the same division lead, are competing for 2 playoff spots, C will host the A / B loser for the second spot. If 4 teams were competing for 3 playoff spots, and two teams are competing for the division championship, then the A / B loser will play the C / D loser for the final wild - card spot. Home field will be determined by the rules for two way tiebreakers. If 4 teams were competing for 3 playoff spots, and three teams are competing for the division championship, if D wins, then the A / B winner wins the division and Club C is a wild card. If D lost, then the A / B winner hosts team C for the division, and the loser is a wild card, and the A / B loser hosts team D for the other wild card. If 3 or 4 teams, tied for the same division 's lead, both win on Day 1, then the A / B winner will host the C / D winner to determine the division title. The loser of this Day 2 game will earn a wild card spot. If four teams are competing for three spots, the A / B loser hosts the C / D loser for the a wild card. Determining team designations The order in which teams pick their designations ( A, B, C, D ) will be determined by the following 5 - step tie - breaking system. If there is a tie for both wild card and division title spots, then the first designations will match teams competing for their division title. Winning / Losing season series against each of the other tied teams ( only if a 3 way tie ) Winning percentage among all tied teams Winning percentage in intradivision games Winning percentage in the last half of intraleague play If still tied, the next most recent intraleague game is added into this winning percentage ( skipping games between tied teams ) until not all teams are tied. If at any given step some, but not all, teams remain tied, then those teams that are still tied revert to Step 1. See also List of Major League Baseball tie - breakers References `` MLB, union agree to expand playoffs ''. ESPN. espn.com. 2012 - 03 - 12. Retrieved 2012 - 03 - 29. `` How to determine playoff tiebreakers ''. MLB.com. September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012. External links 2015 MLB tiebreaker rules from MLB.com 2014 MLB tiebreaker rules from MLB.com 2013 MLB tiebreaker rules from MLB.com 2012 MLB tiebreaker rules from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine ( archived from MLB.com ) Major League Baseball ( 2017 ) American League East Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox New York Yankees Tampa Bay Rays Toronto Blue Jays Central Chicago White Sox Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Minnesota Twins West Houston Astros Los Angeles Angels Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners Texas Rangers National League East Atlanta Braves Miami Marlins New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies Washington Nationals Central Chicago Cubs Cincinnati Reds Milwaukee Brewers Pittsburgh Pirates St. Louis Cardinals West Arizona Diamondbacks Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Dodgers San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Postseason World Series Champions NL NL Champions NLCS NLDS AL AL Champions ALCS ALDS Wild Card Game Appearances Streaks Droughts Series Steroid usage Drug policy suspensions Mitchell Report Juiced Vindicated Biogenesis baseball scandal BALCO scandal Game of Shadows Barry Bonds perjury case Miscellaneous All - Star Game World Baseball Classic International games Records Awards Retired numbers Hall of Fame Executive Management Winter Meetings Hot stove league Transactions MLB drafts First year player Rule 5 Players Association TV contracts Highest paid players Luxury tax Instant replay MLB logo MLB team uniforms Minor League Baseball History AL Seasons Tie - breakers Tie - breaking procedures Rivalries Interleague play Schedule Stadiums Civil Rights Game Jackie Robinson Day Spring training Opening Day Lockouts / strikes Mascots MLB.com Timeline Timeline of Major League Baseball History of team nicknames Dead - ball era Live - ball era Relocation of the 1950s -- 60s Expansion 1961 1962 1969 1977 1998 Commissioner : Rob Manfred League Presidents NL AL Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Major_League_Baseball_tie-breaking_procedures&oldid=803850205 '' Categories : Major League Baseball rules Hidden categories : Articles lacking in - text citations from January 2013 All articles lacking in - text citations Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 5 October 2017, at 01 : 20. 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Question: what if there is a tie in mlb division
Answer: played between teams tied for a division championship or a league's second wildcard berth. These games are to be played the day after the season is scheduled to end. Home-field advantage is determined using the rules listed below ("Breaking Ties Without Playoff Games").