Astros' Justin Verlander (Image: Getty) Author: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA (Wikipedia Commons)
The MLB playoffs began Tuesday night, with the Washington Nationals beating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in the National League Wild Card Game.
The Nationals will now face the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Thursday night for Game 1 of the National League Division Series. The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves will also start their best-of-five series on Thursday to complete the other half of the NLDS.
The National League was quite unpredictable, as the NL Central and Wild Card races lasted until the final week of play. The Brewers clinched the second wild-card spot by playing a solid final month while watching the Cubs collapse but will be without reigning MVP Christian Yelich for this playoff run. The Nationals return to the playoffs after missing 2018 behind star Anthony Rendon. The Braves won their second straight NL East Division under the young core of Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Mike Soroka and company. The Cardinals won the Central after being out of the playoffs for 3 years, while consistently posting winning records each season. The Dodgers stranglehold over the NL West has shown no sign of stopping as they won their seventh straight division title.
The Tampa Bay Rays also defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-1 in the American League Wild Card Game on Wednesday night. Tampa Bay will next face the Houston Astros — who won the World Series only two years ago — in the ALDS on Friday. The Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees will also start their best-of-five set on Friday.
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The American league was stacked this year, as each division winner finished the season with at least 100 wins. The Rays improved on a surprising 90 win 2018 season by returning in better form and winning 96, and clinching their first playoff spot since 2013, the longest playoff drought of any of these ten playoff teams. The Athletics continued to impress this season with 97 wins and another wild-card berth to show for it. The Astros continued their sustained dominance over the AL West, as they won the AL West for the third year in a row. The Twins resurged back to form after a down 2018 under new manager Rocco Baldelli. Finally, the Yankees made do with a myriad of injuries throughout the season to achieve a second straight 100 win season.
The full playoff schedule is listed below:
Division Series
Thursday, Oct. 3: NLWC at LAD, Game 1, TBS
Thursday, Oct. 3: STL at ATL, Game 1, TBS
Friday, Oct. 4: ALWC at HOU, Game 1, FS1 or MLBN
Friday, Oct. 4: MIN at NYY, Game 1, FS1 or MLBN
Friday, Oct. 4: NLWC at LAD, Game 2, TBS
Friday, Oct. 4: STL at ATL, Game 2, TBS
Saturday, Oct. 5: ALWC at HOU, Game 2, FS1
Saturday, Oct. 5: MIN at NYY, Game 2, FS1
Sunday, Oct. 6: LAD at NLWC, Game 3, TBS
Sunday, Oct. 6: ATL at STL, Game 3, TBS
Monday, Oct. 7: HOU at ALWC, Game 3, FS1 or MLBN
Monday, Oct. 7: NYY at MIN, Game 3, FS1 or MLBN
Monday, Oct. 7: LAD at NLWC, G4 (if necessary), TBS
Monday, Oct. 7: ATL at STL, G4 (if necessary), TBS
Tuesday, Oct. 8: HOU at ALWC, G4 (if necessary), FS1
Tuesday, Oct. 8: NYY at MIN, G4 (if necessary), FS1
Wednesday, Oct. 9: NLWC at LAD, G5 (if necessary), TBS
Wednesday, Oct. 9: STL at ATL, G5 (if necessary), TBS
Thursday, Oct. 10: ALWC at HOU, G5 (if necessary), FS1
Thursday, Oct. 10: MIN at NYY, G5 (if necessary), FS1
League Championship Series
Friday, Oct. 11: NLCS Game 1, TBS
Saturday, Oct. 12: ALCS Game 1, Fox or FS1
Saturday, Oct. 12: NLCS Game 2, TBS
Sunday, Oct. 13: ALCS Game 2, Fox or FS1
Monday, Oct. 14: NLCS Game 3, TBS
Tuesday, Oct. 15: ALCS Game 3, Fox or FS1
Tuesday, Oct. 15: NLCS Game 4, TBS
Wednesday, Oct. 16: ALCS Game 4, Fox or FS1
Wednesday, Oct. 16: NLCS Game 5 (if necessary), TBS
Thursday, Oct. 17: ALCS Game 5 (if necessary), Fox or FS1
Friday, Oct. 18: NLCS Game 6 (if necessary), TBS
Saturday, Oct. 19: ALCS Game 6 (if necessary), Fox or FS1
Saturday, Oct. 19: NLCS Game 7 (if necessary), TBS
Sunday, Oct. 20: ALCS Game 7 (if necessary), Fox or FS1
Tuesday, Oct. 22: World Series Game 1, Fox
Wednesday, Oct. 23: World Series Game 2, Fox
Friday, Oct. 25: World Series Game 3, Fox
Saturday, Oct. 26: World Series Game 4, Fox
Sunday, Oct. 27: World Series Game 5 (if necessary), Fox
Monday, Oct. 28: travel day (if necessary)
Tuesday, Oct. 29: World Series Game 6 (if necessary), Fox
Wednesday, Oct. 30: World Series Game 7 (if necessary), Fox
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