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2022 MLB playoff tiebreakers: Head-to-head records, postseason scenarios

As Major League Baseball's season winds down, fans wondering about their team's playoff fate in this new, expanded postseason format will need more information beyond their team's record.

For the first time in a full season, teams' head-to-head performances against division and league foes will determine who reaches the playoffs in the event of a tie after 162 games.

Gone is the Game 163 tiebreaker, used to separate division or wild-card winners. Now, three division winners and three wild cards in each league will be determined, if necessary, by a tiebreaker system.

Whether for a division title or wild card, it goes like this:

  1. Head-to-head record

  2. Intra-division record

  3. Inter-division record

  4. Last half of intra-league games

  5. Last half of intra-league games plus one (and continuing until the tie is broken).

OK, so we're not about to get into all of that – at least not until the final days of the season. But knowing how your team did against its biggest rivals for division titles, wild card berths and even home field advantage will only grow more important as October draws near. And keep in mind, the division winners with the two best records will receive a first-round bye.

With that, a look at each contender's most relevant head-to-head records, in order of current seed:

(through Oct. 2 games)

Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez celebrate a home run against at Yankee Stadium in June.
Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez celebrate a home run against at Yankee Stadium in June.

American League tiebreakers

(* indicates games still remain against that team. Clinched season series in bold italic)

Houston Astros

(Clinched AL West title and No. 1 seed in American League)

New York Yankees

(Clinched AL East title and No. 2 seed)

Cleveland Guardians

(Clinched AL Central title)

Seattle Mariners

(clinched wild card berth)

5-2 vs. Blue Jays

2-5 vs. Rays

Tampa Bay Rays

(clinched wild card berth)

10-9 vs. Blue Jays

5-2 vs. Mariners

Toronto Blue Jays

9-10 vs. Rays

2-5 vs. Mariners

National League tiebreakers

Los Angeles Dodgers

(Have clinched No. 1 seed and home field advantage throughout NL playoffs.)

New York Mets

9-10 vs. Braves

St. Louis Cardinals

(Have clinched NL Central title and will be No. 3 seed)

Atlanta Braves

10-9 vs. Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

4-2 vs. Brewers

San Diego Padres

Have clinched wild-card berth

3-4 vs. Phillies

4-3 vs. Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers

3-4 vs. Padres

2-4 vs. Phillies

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB playoff tiebreakers 2022: Head-to-head records, postseason look