(AP) — It won’t take long for Major League Baseball to deliver on some spicy postseason storylines.
The Wild Card Series begins Tuesday, featuring four best-of-three matchups that include the Boston Red Sox traveling to face their longtime nemesis, the New York Yankees. Also in the American League, the Chicago White Sox are at the Houston Astros, who qualified for the postseason despite an 81-81 record.
Over in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies are at the Atlanta Braves while the Chicago Cubs travel to face the San Diego Padres.
Four teams earned a bye straight to the Division Series, including the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL, along with the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers in the NL. They’ll get nearly a week to rest and regroup following the sport’s long 162-game regular season.
Here’s more of what to know about the wild-card matchups this week:
The Red Sox go to the Bronx. Will Aaron Judge play for the Yankees?
It’s the second year in a row the AL East rivals will meet in the Wild Card Series. The Yankees prevailed in last season’s matchup, winning 2 games to 1 after a dominant Game 3 performance by young ace Cam Schlittler.
Schlittler has emerged as one of the game’s best pitchers this season — he’s likely to win the AL Cy Young award — and he’ll start Game 1 after a 1.95 ERA in the regular season.
It remains to be seen whether three-time MVP Aaron Judge will be in the lineup against Boston — he’s dealing with a right calf strain that knocked him out of the last week of the regular season. That came shortly after he missed more than three months with a broken rib.
The Red Sox had a massive in-season turnaround after they were 32-46 and 15 1/2 games back in the AL East race on June 24. Boston fired manager Alex Cora in April, and his replacement, Chad Tracy, recently had his interim tag removed.
Game 1: Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock
Game 2: Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock
Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN
The White Sox try to continue remarkable turnaround
The White Sox became the first team to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons by reaching the playoffs. Chicago’s powerful lineup includes Miguel Vargas, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery, though the latter two have struggled at the plate of late.
The Astros were at one point 11 games under .500, fired their general manager in August and failed to finish with a winning record. Even so, the .500 club was good enough to win the AL West for the fifth time in six years. Houston’s roster has some holes, but it also has star slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is the frontrunner to win AL MVP.
Game 1: Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN
Game 2: Wednesday, 5 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN
Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN
The Phillies barely sneaked into the postseason, and now face their NL East rivals
The Braves are regulars in the playoffs and have another strong roster that includes ace lefty Chris Sale and a lineup that features Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuna Jr., Drake Baldwin and Ozzie Albies.
The veteran Phillies stumbled down the stretch and squeezed into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. With a lineup that includes Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, and one of the best starting rotations in the game, it wouldn’t be shocking for them to make a run in October.
Game 1: Tuesday, 2 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock
Game 2: Wednesday, 2 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock
Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN
PCA and the Cubs head to San Diego
The Cubs are led by NL MVP frontrunner Pete Crow-Armstrong, who finished the season with 45 homers and a .943 OPS. They also have veteran third baseman Alex Bregman, who is back in the lineup despite taking a ball to the face while standing in the on-deck circle last week.
The Padres are back in the postseason for a third straight season, surging down the stretch thanks to big contributions from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill. They’ve got solid starting pitching and one of the best bullpens in the game, led by closer Mason Miller.
Game 1: Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN
Game 2: Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN
Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday on NBC/Peacock/NBCSN
What is the MLB playoff format?
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. 29. 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.
What is the MLB postseason schedule?
Wild Card Series: Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (NBC/Peacock)
Division Series: Oct. 3-10 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)
Championship Series: Oct. 11-20 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)
World Series: Oct. 23-31 (FOX)
Who are the favorites to win the World Series?
The Dodgers (+210) are the favorites to capture a third straight World Series title while the Brewers (+550), Rays (+800) and Yankees (+800) are viewed as the top contenders.
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