TLDR: Game 162 is still being played and the NL's 2 wild-card clubs already have Tuesday circled. It's best-of-3, all 3 games in one building, and the team that drops the opener is 1 loss from winter.
Neither club has named a starter for Tuesday's opener, and on this weekend nobody should expect otherwise. A team whose seed is still moving on the last day has to choose between using its best arm to lock up a spot and saving him for Game 1. Whoever takes the ball on Tuesday, September 29 will tell you which choice each dugout made.
On Sunday, the last day of the regular season, CBS Sports had the San Diego Padres in this home slot at 90-71 and the Chicago Cubs in the road slot at 88-73. Both have clinched a postseason berth. The order below them has not been settled: the Phillies (87-74) and Diamondbacks are fighting for the last NL wild-card spot on the final day, and Philadelphia is 1 game behind Chicago. Treat the names as the likely matchup, not a confirmed one. The board has no price on this game yet, and that fits a matchup that isn't final.
The format is the main story here. The club with the better regular-season record hosts every game of the round, so Wild Card #1 has the home crowd for Game 1, Game 2 and a Game 3 if it gets that far. Wild Card #2 gets no home game in the series, with Game 1 on Tuesday, Game 2 on Wednesday and Game 3, if needed, on Thursday, October 1.
In a 3-game set, one early swing carries a lot of weight. The road team isn't only chasing 2 wins. It has to win 2 of 3 in a park where it gets no last at-bat. The home team can drop the opener and still get 2 more chances in front of its own fans. That cushion is the real reward for the top wild-card seed, more than anything in the standings.
The best preview material is still to be played. Sunday decides who is actually in each slot, which pitchers get used to get there, and whether anybody needs a flight on Monday. Once that's done, the rotations come out, the board posts, and this page gets a real matchup. For now the setup is simple: 2 clubs that played 162 games to earn a 3-game series, starting Tuesday.
