Phillies enter final day of MLB regular season on verge of unfathomable choke in playoff race

As MLB enters the final day of the regular season on Sunday, there is a single NL playoff spot up for grabs. In one corner is in the 87-74 Phillies. In the other is the 86-75 Arizona Diamondbacks . The Phillies lead the D-backs by a single game, but Arizona has the tiebreaker.

That leaves a scenario where the Phillies clinch with either a win over the Tampa Bay Rays or a D-backs loss to the San Diego Padres . It's a narrow path to victory for Arizona, but it's an astonishing turn of events the club is alive at all.

With the divisions all but decided, the Phillies were tied with both the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres in the wild-card race at 87-70 with five games to play. The D-backs were dead in the water, trailing the trio by four games. Arizona could have been eliminated from playoff contention as early as Wednesday.