New DH calendar
Article updated: 10/5/2012 5:50 AM

One-game playoffs: Dramatic, but fair?

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Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis stands in the outfield during their workout at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012. The Orioles are scheduled to play the Texas Rangers in a wild-card baseball game on Friday. (AP Photo Richard W. Rodriguez)

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By sometime tonight, either Chipper Jones will be out of baseball or the defending World Series champion Cardinals will be out of the playoffs. One and done. A pair of wild-card matchups — St. Louis at Atlanta, then Baltimore at Texas — to decide which teams advance to the next round. Part of the new, expanded postseason format, where 162 games, six months of grinding and upward of 50,000 pitches get boiled down to nine all-or-nothing innings.