If there's a three-way tie (Rangers, Astros, Twins)
Where they'd play: Uh-oh. Now we're into a whole different realm of messiness, because here we'd have three teams in a tie for two spots (AL West and wild card) instead of one. So the Astros and Rangers would play a tiebreaker game in Arlington the day after the season to decide the AL West. Then the loser would play the Twins in Minnesota the following day to decide the final wild-card spot.
Why they'd play there: The Rangers have whomped on the Astros so far in the season series, 12-4. So the good news for the Astros is that if they sweep the three-game series against the Rangers this weekend in Houston, they'd make the Rangers' three-game lead in the division disappear. The bad news is, the Rangers would still win the season series, so they'd host a tiebreaker game. And why would the Twins host the game the next day, even though they split their season series with both of those teams? Better record within their division, of course. (See above if your head just exploded.)
Potential travel madness: The Astros would win the all-time travel-nightmare trophy if it plays out this way: Sunday in Phoenix, Monday in Arlington, Tuesday in Minneapolis, Wednesday in New York, Thursday in Toronto or Kansas City. Yep, they could play five games in five days in five different cities, three time zones and maybe even two countries. And that's their reward for winning.
If there's a four-way tie (Rangers, Astros, Twins, Angels)
Where they'd play: Please. We beg you. Don't ask. If the Rangers, Astros, Twins and Angels all finish with the same record, we'd have a three-team tie in the AL West, plus a wild-card spot up for grabs. So don't hold us to this, but most likely, the Angels would host the Astros, and the Rangers would host the Twins the day after the regular season ended. If the Twins win, they automatically become the wild-card team and the winner of Angels-Rangers wins the division. But if the Twins lose and there are still two AL West teams alive, they would play yet another tiebreaker game the following day. The winner is division champ. The loser is the wild card. Make sense? Um, don't answer that!
Why they'd play there: Have we mentioned this is complicated? These teams aren't even through playing each other, so all of this could change. But as of right now, the Angels would own the best head-to-head record, so they would get to choose where they would play their division tiebreaker game. Good bet they'd opt to play at home. The Rangers would choose second. Then the Astros. Then the Twins.
We can only guess that the Rangers would also want to play at home, because they'd have no way of knowing if they'd also have to play the next day. If there's an Angels-Rangers game that Tuesday, they would play that one in Orange County, because the Angels have clinched that season series. If it's Astros-Rangers, that game is in Texas for the same reason. Everybody on board with this? Ehhhh, again, don't answer that!
Potential travel madness: You know that Astros road trip from hell we outlined above? This is their alternate version. Their potential schedule under this scenario: Sunday in Phoenix, Monday in Anaheim, Tuesday in Texas, Wednesday in New York, Thursday in Kansas City or Toronto. There might be astronauts who haven't flown that many hours.
http://espn.go.com/blog/jayson-stark...aker-scenarios
@ the travel scenarios for Houston.