BSJ Daily Briefing 10.02.18: MLB's dumb tiebreakers, Patriots get going, Chiefs loom

Good morning! 

A few random thoughts while I wonder how many more artificial playoff games MLB can come up with...

• Count me among those who think it's absolutely ridiculous that the Cubs and Dodgers had to play playoff games yesterday to determine seedings in the NL playoffs. Both teams won their season series against the Brewers and Rockies, respectively, but still had to play them and burn valuable pitching in the process. I mean, what is the point of playing 162 games and 19 games against each in the regular season? If you win the season series against a team you finish tied with, you win the tiebreaker — you don't have to play in one.


• Get ready to sit by the TV tonight with Jon Lester toeing the slab for the Cubs against the Rockies in the wild-card game, and the Celtics back in preseason action against the Cavs. You can long for the lefty like you do Don Orsillo.


• Patriots quickly got back into the swing of things for Thursday night's game against the Colts. It was nice of the Dolphins to make the Patriots only play three quarters. The Colts had to play nearly five full quarters with their overtime loss to the Texans.


• The schedule is certainly kind to the Patriots in the next couple weeks. Not only do they get to host Thursday night, but they get 10 days off to prepare for all the Chiefs bring to the table with Pat Mahomes and the NFL's most diverse offensive system. The Chiefs, who defeated the Broncos in Denver last night, have to play the Jaguars before traveling to New England. You couldn't draw it up any better if you're the Patriots.


• Bummer about Torey Krug's ankle. With Patrice Bergeron ready to play Wednesday without playing in a preseason game, the Bruins could be a little disjointed in the opener at Washington. Let's hope the Capitals are caught admiring their new Stanley Cup banner and rings.