MLB postseason begins Tuesday with four Wild Card Series

Graphic: Provectus Media (PM)

The 2026 MLB postseason gets underway Tuesday with four Wild Card Series and eight teams facing an immediate best-of-three test.

Four others get to watch.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians earned the American League's two first-round byes, while the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers secured the top two seeds in the National League. All four advance directly to the Division Series, which begins Saturday.

That leaves a four-game slate Tuesday to open October baseball.

In the American League, the No. 4 New York Yankees host the No. 5 Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, renewing one of baseball's biggest rivalries. Cam Schlittler is set to start Game 1 for New York opposite Sonny Gray. Schlittler finished the regular season with an AL-best 1.95 ERA, while Gray enters October after an 18-win season with a 2.72 ERA.

The No. 3 Houston Astros, fresh off clinching the AL West on the final day of the regular season, host the No. 6 Chicago White Sox in the other AL matchup. Houston secured the division when Texas lost 6-4 to Minnesota on Sunday.

Over in the National League, the No. 3 Atlanta Braves host the No. 6 Philadelphia Phillies in another divisional rivalry. Philadelphia didn't officially punch its ticket until Sunday, beating Tampa Bay 7-3 to hold off Arizona for the final NL Wild Card. Cristopher Sánchez is projected to face Braves ace Chris Sale in Game 1.

The nightcap sends the No. 5 Chicago Cubs to San Diego to face the No. 4 Padres. Matthew Boyd is listed as Chicago's probable Game 1 starter against Michael King for San Diego.

Each Wild Card Series is played entirely at the higher seed's ballpark, with Game 2 on Wednesday and, if necessary, a decisive Game 3 on Thursday. There are no off days.

The winners move on to the Division Series, where Tampa Bay and Cleveland await in the AL and Milwaukee and Los Angeles await in the NL.

Four series. Three games at most. And by Thursday night, the field of 12 could already be down to eight.

Tuesday’s Game 1 schedule: Phillies-Braves at 2 p.m. ET (12 p.m. MT), White Sox-Astros at 5 p.m. ET (3 p.m. MT), Red Sox-Yankees at 8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. MT) and Cubs-Padres at 10 p.m. ET (8 p.m. MT).

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