Here's a fun fact that should buoy Phillies fans everywhere: if the Phillies make it to the World Series this postseason and face the Houston Astros, home-field advantage goes to....Philadelphia.
That's right. Even though the Phillies came into the playoffs as a wild-card team and ranked as the No. 4 seed in the NL, the Phillies would get home-field advantage based on the MLB's postseason World Series tiebreaker rules.
In the Wild Card series, Division Series, and Championship Series, wild-card teams are not allowed to have home-field advantage.
Different rules apply in the World Series. As per the tiebreaker rules, advantage goes to the team with the better regular-season record. Both the Phillies and Astros finished 90-72. In that case, the team that won the series in the regular season wins the tiebreaker.
The Phillies traveled to Minute Maid Park in April and won two of three against the Astros. Thus, they get home-field advantage in the World Series, assuming both they and the Astros reach the final stage.
Phillies would get home field advantage over Astros due to MLB tiebreaker rule
The Phillies are currently up 3-2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Over in the AL, the Astros are also up 3-2 against the Texas Rangers.
A win apiece for the Phillies and Astros in their respective championship series would see the two clubs playing each other in the World Series for the second consecutive season.
Of course, it's still too soon to call those series over. The D-Backs and Rangers can still stage a comeback and have the talent to win two straight games. As of now, however, the Phillies vs. Astros World Series rematch looks like the most probable outcome.
The Phillies will play for their World Series spot on Monday at 5:07 p.m. ET and the Astros play on Sunday at 8:03 p.m. ET.
