PHOENIX — (AP) — Major League Baseball's postseason has delivered some spicy matchups for this week's Wild Card Series, particularly in the American League.
The four series begin Tuesday, highlighted by a matchup between the archrival Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. All games of the best-of-three series will be at Yankee Stadium since they have the higher seed.
Elsewhere in the American League, the Detroit Tigers travel to face their AL Central rival Cleveland Guardians. The Tigers have a chance to get revenge after blowing a huge September lead in the division, which allowed the Guardians to clinch.
In the National League, the high-dollar Los Angeles Dodgers host the Cincinnati Reds, who edged the New York Mets on the final day of the regular season for the last NL wild card. Also, the Chicago Cubs host the San Diego Padres.
The AL's Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners, along with the NL's Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies, round out the 12-team field. All four teams earned a bye to the Division Series because they had the best records in their respective leagues.
There are 12 teams that qualify for MLB’s postseason, including six teams from both the AL and NL. The three division winners in each league get seeds No. 1 through No. 3, ranked by win-loss record. Then the three wild-card teams get seeds No. 4 through No. 6, also ranked by win-loss record.
The top two teams with the best record in both the AL and NL automatically advance to the Division Series. The other eight teams play in the Wild Card Series, which is a best-of-three format beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 30. In both the AL and NL, the No. 6 seed will travel to face the No. 3 seed while the No. 5 seed goes to No. 4. The higher seed hosts all three games.
The winners then advance to the best-of-five Division Series, followed by the best-of-seven League Championship Series and a best-of-seven World Series between the winners of the AL and NL.
Wild Card Round: Sept. 30-Oct. 2 (ESPN)
Division Series: Oct. 4-11 (NL on TBS, AL on FOX/FS1)
Championship Series: Oct. 12-21 (NL on TBS, AL on FOX/FS1)
World Series: Oct. 24-Nov. 1 (FOX)
The Phillies (+425) are the favorite to win the World Series, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. After that, it’s the Mariners (+500), Dodgers (+550), Yankees (+700), Brewers (+800) and Blue Jays (+950).
The Blue Jays opened the season at +6000 odds.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
