The MLB’s regular season is over, and a wild finish is about to give way to the Wild Card round.
Following a 60-game season unlike any other in the long history of the sport, the largest playoff field in MLB history is all set. 16 teams are in the postseason and unlike the one-game, win-or-go-home format of last year's Wild Card matchups, the playoffs start with eight best-of-three series. That means more playoff baseball than ever, and while fans won’t be allowed to attend the games in person (for now), Sling has the Wild Card round covered from the first pitch to the final strike.
Check out the Wild Card round schedule below, along with a preview of what to expect:
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Channel | Pitchers |
| Tue. Sept. 29 | 2:00 PM | Houston Astros at Minnesota Twins (4-1, HOU) |
ESPN3 |
Zack Greinke vs Kenta Maeda
|
| Tue. Sept. 29 | 3:00 PM | Chicago White Sox at Oakland A's (4-1, CHIW) |
ESPN |
Lucas Giolito vs Undecided
|
| Tue. Sept. 29 | 5:00 PM | Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays (3-1, TB) |
TBS |
Hyun-Jin Ryu vs Blake Snell
|
| Tue. Sept. 29 | 7:00 PM | New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians (12-3, NYY) |
ESPN |
Gerrit Cole vs Shane Bieber
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 12:00 PM | Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves (1-0, ATL) |
ESPN |
Trevor Bauer vs Max Fried
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 1:00 PM | Houston Astros at Minnesota Twins (3-1, HOU - HOU WINS) |
ESPN2 |
Undecided vs Jose Berrios
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 2:00 PM | Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs (5-1, MIA) |
ESPN3 |
Undecided vs Undecided
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 3:00 PM | Chicago White Sox at Oakland A's (5-3, OAK) |
ESPN |
Dallas Keuchel vs Undecided
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 4:00 PM | Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays (8-2, TB - TB WINS) |
TBS |
Undecided vs Tyler Glasnow
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 5:00 PM | St. Louis Cardinals at San Diego Padres (7-4, STL) |
ESPN2 |
Undecided vs Undecided
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 7:00 PM | New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians (10-9, NYY - NYY WINS) |
ESPN |
Masahiro Tanaka vs Carlos Carrasco
|
| Wed. Sept. 30 | 10:00 PM | Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Dodgers (4-2, LAD) |
ESPN |
Undecided vs Walker Buehler
|
| Thur. Oct. 1 | 12:00 PM | Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves | ESPN |
Castillo vs Undecided
|
| Thur. Oct. 1 | PPD | Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs (Game postponed due to inclement weather) | ESPN |
Sanchez vs Darvish
|
| Thur. Oct. 1 | 3:00 PM | Chicago White Sox at Oakland A's | ESPN |
Dunning vs Fiers
|
| Thur. Oct. 1 | 7:00 PM | St. Louis Cardinals at San Diego Padres | ESPN |
Wainwright vs Davies
|
| Thur. Oct. 1 | 10:00 PM | Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Dodgers | ESPN |
Woodruff vs Kershaw
|
| Fri. Oct. 2 | TBD* | Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves | ESPN |
Gray vs Undecided
|
| Fri. Oct. 2 | 2:00 PM | Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs | ESPN |
Undecided vs Undecided
|
| Fri. Oct. 2 | TBD* | Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Dodgers | ESPN |
Undecided vs Undecided
|
| Fri. Oct. 2 | TBD* | St. Louis Cardinals at San Diego Padres | ESPN |
Undecided vs Undecided
|
No. 8 Milwaukee Brewers at No. 1 Los Angeles Dodgers
No. 7 Cincinnati Reds at No. 2 Atlanta Braves
No. 6 Miami Marlins at No. 3 Chicago Cubs
No. 5 St. Louis Cardinals at No. 4 San Diego Padres
All series played at higher seed’s home park
Biggest surprise: Miami Marlins
Remember when Marlins players caught coronavirus as soon as the season started and it sort of felt like a metaphor for the sad state of the franchise? Well, Miami got better, medically and athletically. They made the postseason in a division that included the defending World Series champs in Washington and a Phillies team that missed the playoffs by one game and played well in a frenetic makeup schedule down the stretch, including taking 2-of-3 from the Yankees in their final series. It's easy to see the Marlins pushing the Cubs to a full series, but without fans, at least Chicago won’t have a repeat of the Bartman incident.
Best team: Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers not only finished with an MLB-best 43-17 record, they lead baseball with a towering +136 run differential (the Padres, perhaps the second-best NL team, finished second at +84). LA also finished strong, winning 10 of their last 12 games, including series wins over the Padres and Athletics. Plus, thanks to the Astros scandal, they have a chip on their shoulder the size of Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers are odds-on favorites to win the World Series and with their depth and talent, it’s not hard to see why.
What’s next: The winners of the LA/ MIL and SD/ SLT series will head to Arlington, Texas to play in the Rangers new stadium for the NLDS (and potentially through the World Series), while the CHI/ MIA and ATL/ CIN winners move on to an NLDS round in Houston.
No. 8 Toronto Blue Jays at No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays
No. 7 Chicago White Sox at No. 2 Oakland Athletics
No. 6 Houston Astros at No. 3 Minnesota Twins
No. 5 New York Yankees at No. 4 Cleveland Indians
All series played at higher seed’s home park
Biggest surprise: Tampa Bay Rays
It’s tempting to go with either the Chicago White Sox — who made the postseason for the first time since 2008 — or the Toronto Blue Jays, who reached the playoffs for just the third time since winning back-to-back World Series in 1992-93. But the Rays look sneaky good. They swept Philadelphia in what amounted to a default playoff series for the Phillies, and finished with an AL-best 40 wins. They’ve been good in the past but their consistency through a difficult 2020 season has them looking like AL favorites.
Underdog with the most potential: New York Yankees
It feels weird to consider the most celebrated and successful franchise in North American sports an underdog, but the Yankees come into the playoffs as a 5-seed. They put their fans through a wild ride this season; after hammering the Jays for 19 homers in the midst of a 10-game winning streak, they dropped six of their last eight heading into the playoffs. The Yankees have been very streaky this season, which cuts both ways; if they get rolling against a tired Cleveland team that was in a tough divisional fight, they could be an offensive nightmare as the playoffs roll on.
What’s next: A Yankees win over the Indians would set up an AL East ALDS in San Diego, as they would face the winner of the Tampa and Toronto series. Meanwhile, Dodgers Stadium in LA will host the victors of the MIN/ HOU and OAK/ CHI series.
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