163rd game

One game beyond the customary length of the Major League Baseball season, 162 games.

163rd game (plural 163rd games)

1. (baseball) A one-game playoff between two teams for a playoff spot.
   • 2008, Richard Bradley, The Greatest Game, Free Press, →ISBN, page x:

     Much to the surprise of both the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Yankees lost. The Red Sox, however, did not. ¶ As a result, baseball's two best teams would be facing each other in a 163rd game. The winner would take on the Kansas City Royals in the league championship series, the prelude to the World Series, […]

   • 2016, Dan Formosa, Paul Hamburger, Baseball Field Guide, 3rd edition, New York: The Experiment, →ISBN, page 18:

     The win-loss percentage is simply the number of games won divided by the total number of games played (the total number of games played is 162 at the end of the regular season). If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, a 163rd game will be scheduled to break the tie.

   • 2023, Luke Hanlon, Tampa Bay Rays, Minneapolis: Abdo Publishing, →ISBN, page 29:

     After the 162-game season, the Rays and the Rangers were both 91–71 and tied for the second wild-card spot in the AL. That meant a 163rd game was needed to decide who would go to the playoffs.