MLB’s wild-card series is a strange beast. If’s arguably more fair than the former wild-card setup, which featured a one-game playoff for the bottom two teams in the playoff barrel in each league. But the format of it – three games (at most) squeezed into three days, all at one ballpark – tends to lead to some weird bounces for the higher seeds, theoretically rewarded with homefield advantage for the first round.

Last season, three of the four visitors (including the Detroit Tigers in their trip to Houston) advanced to the Division Series. In 2023? Two of the visitors moved on, with one (the Diamondbacks ) making it all the way to the World Series. And in 2022? Another trio of visitors rolled on, with the Phillies making it all the way to the Fall Classic. That’s eight of 12 low se

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