Diamondbacks Clinch Spot in NL Wild Card Game with Cardinals, Brewers Losses

The Arizona Diamondbacks were the latest team to clinch a spot in the MLB playoffs following Sunday's losses by the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers.Although the Diamondbacks were in the middle of a game against the Miami Marlins at the time, the team acknowledged the accomplishment, as Joe Frisaro of MLB.com noted:Arizona entered the day with an 89-66 record and now has a 7.5-game lead over the Brewers with seven games to play.The Los Angeles Dodgersdespite their late-season struggleshave already clinched the National League West, meaning the Diamondbacks will play in the Wild Card Game regardless of what else happens. If they remain ahead of the rest of the field, the one-game series will be played at home in Chase Field.If the season ended Sunday, that matchup would be against the Colorado Rockies, but both the Brewers and Cardinals remain in the hunt for the second spot heading into the final week of the year.Although advancing from the wild-card spot has become tougher in recent seasons with one loss enough to end a season, the Diamondbacks will enter October as one of the hottest teams in baseball. They had a 13-game winning streak over the summer and have won 20 of their last 28 games.Knowing the playoff position this far in advance also allows the team to set up the pitching rotation how it wants, likely putting Zack Greinke on the mound for the wild-card battle.With top players such as Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb leading the offense, this could be a team to fear in the postseason.
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