Who wins a three-way playoff tiebreaker between NY Mets, Reds and Diamondbacks?

With just five games left in the regular season, the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, and Arizona Diamondbacks all find themselves within a single game of each other. With standings this tight, it’s entirely plausible that all three could finish the season with identical records, setting up a three-way tie for the final wildcard spot. It’s a rare situation, but one that MLB rules can resolve cleanly.

No extra games, no winner-take-all playoffs, no rock-beats-paper scenarios—MLB already knows who moves on. In this unusual corner of the rulebook, a straightforward tiebreaker determines everything: one team claims the wild card, while the other two are done. It all happens automatically, without anyone stepping on the field again, turning a 162-game season into a single, decisive outcome.

Mets three-way tie scenario explained, and how MLB decides the final wild card spot

When it comes to a three-way tie, MLB doesn’t leave things to chance. The tiebreaker hinges entirely on head-to-head records between the teams, and thankfully, it’s straightforward enough that fans don’t need a law degree to follow along. With no games left to play, the math of past matchups takes center stage.

There are two possible paths. If all three clubs finish with identical head-to-head records against one another, then MLB turns to a step-by-step list of secondary tiebreakers. That order runs through intradivision records, then intraleague records, and if still tied, further criteria are used. It’s essentially baseball peeling back the standings layer by layer until one team comes out ahead.

If the three clubs do not have identical records against one another, MLB looks for a clear head-to-head winner. If team 1 has a better record against teams 2 and 3, then team 1 qualifies. That’s exactly what happens here. The Mets lost their season series to the Reds 4–2 and tied the Diamondbacks 3–3, while the Reds beat both opponents 4–2, making them the outright qualifier.

So, in the event of a perfect tie, the Reds would be the team advancing to the postseason. The Mets and Diamondbacks, as unlucky bystanders, would be eliminated without a single extra game. It’s an almost surgical way to decide a wild card, and for fans, it’s a reminder that every single game in a 162-game season truly matters—even ones that seemed forgettable in July.