The actual breakdown of the "potential problem" is in this article:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/rumblings120907/baseball-potential-postseason-messLet me outline why this won't happen:
This is the time of year when sportswriters (especially baseball writers) become very bored. The Starks article is based on the Dodgers and Cardinals finishing in a dead heat for the 2nd wild card. It ain't gonna happen.
As of right now, Atlanta has the lead for the Wild Card with St. Louis owning a 1.5 game lead for the 2nd wild card. The 1.5 game lead is important. Follow along:
First, the Dodgers have 21 games left. St. Louis has 22 games left. Of those games remaining, they have four head to head games. They share a three game series with Washington and another three game series with San Diego. That's 10 out of 21 games the Dodgers have where the statistical probability of leap frogging when they are sharing opponents - and the Cards have an extra game.
More simply put: Someone is winning this thing flat out.
Starks actually wrote “a high probability of the second wild card ending in a tie.” Hyperbole at it’s finest. In the history of the game, an actual tie has occurred less than 15 times. The storm has to brew just right for it to happen, it won’t happen now.
If I were bored enough, which I’m not, I’d be willing to bet Starks was one of the guys who hated the idea of the second wild card…