The Giants take win the series against the Cardinals 2-1 but that tells one small part of the story of the NL final standings.
In the East, the Mets and Nationals couldn’t be separated, both finishing 84-78 with the Mets clinching the division (and a bye) by dint of a 7-6 regular season series victory. The Nationals have to be content with a Wildcard Series on the road against the Diamondbacks, who ended up with the second best record in the NL, but were 7 G back of the Giants and homefield advantage for that WC Series is their only reward. In the Central, the Cardinals had lost the first two games of their series against the Giants to fall one game behind the Reds. Down 4-1 in the top of the 9th, it looked like their season was over until PH Luis Arrequi hit a GS off Mike Grudzinski which, coupled with the Reds losing, allowed the Cardinals to steal the division, their 7th in a row, and set up a home WC against their division rivals.
Over in the American League, there were no surprises as the Mariners and the White Sox secured the final two WC places, both finishing three games ahead of the Astros.
