With one more win each, the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies will meet in the World Series for the second consecutive year. It would be the first World Series return game since the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978. The Astros hold a 3-2 lead over the Texas Rangers in the Championship Series. The Phillies are 3-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Should the Astros and Phillies win the pennant again, the World Series would begin on Friday, October 27 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Yes, the Phillies, a wild-card team, would host the World Series against the AL West-winning Astros. Houston was the No. 2 seed and had a bye to the Wild Card Series in the AL. The Phillies were a wild card team and the No. 4 seed in the Netherlands.
Don’t be mad at me, Astros fans, I’m just the messenger. You can blame the MLB’s tiebreaker rules. The Astros and Phillies finished with identical 90-72 records, and the Phillies went to Minute Maid Park and won two of three games in April. They won the season series and therefore have the tiebreaker and home-field advantage in the World Series. Here is the April series:
The Phillies won the April 29 game, clinching the season series and tiebreaker against the Astros thanks to six great innings from Zack Wheeler and home runs from Nick Castellanos and Kody Clemens. Yes, Kody Clemens, who is not on the postseason roster. His two-run home run off Phil Maton opened the game in the sixth inning.
Regardless of record, Wild Card teams cannot have home field advantage against a division winner in the Wild Card Series, Division Series or Championship Series. However, a wild card team can have home field advantage over a division winner in the World Series. This quirky little rule could come into play if there is an Astros vs. Phillies World Series rematch.
Of course, the Championship Series isn’t over yet. The D-Backs and Rangers are fully capable of winning two games in a row (both did so earlier in this round) to spoil the Astros-Phillies rematch. And if they did that, Texas would have a home field advantage over the D-Backs because they had the better regular season record. No reason to worry.