Main League Baseball launched the published plan for the Wild Card Sequence on Sunday, the identical day the common season closed and the final two playoff berths have been settled. All 4 best-of-three matchups open Tuesday and may stretch by means of Thursday, airing throughout NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports activities Community within the NBC deal’s first October, marking the community’s first style of postseason baseball for the reason that 2000 ALCS. Spanish-language protection runs on Universo and Univision, whereas ESPN Radio carries nationwide audio all through the postseason.
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How the Wild Card Period Started
A enjoyable reality for baseball followers underneath 30 — the wild card didn’t at all times exist. MLB added a 3rd division to every league in 1994, making a single wild-card berth per league for the highest non-division winner. A gamers’ strike erased that postseason, delaying the format’s debut to 1995, when the New York Yankees and Colorado Rockies grew to become the primary two wild-card groups. For 17 years, one wild card per league met a division winner immediately within the Division Sequence with no preliminary Wild Card spherical.
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Two Expansions Reshaped the Format
The format expanded twice extra. A second wild card joined every league in 2012, sending the pair of wild-card groups right into a single win-or-go-home sport forward of the Division Sequence, a setup that ran by means of 2019, took a break for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and returned in 2021.
However the very subsequent yr, MLB added a 3rd wild card to every league, changing that one-game playoff with the best-of-three Wild Card Sequence that open Tuesday this yr, whereas the highest two division winners in every league earn byes into the Division Sequence.
| MLB 2026 WILD CARD SERIES — TV SCHEDULE | ||
|---|---|---|
| All video games unique to NBC platforms (NBC, Peacock, NBCSN) |
| TUESDAY, SEPT. 29 — WILD CARD SERIES GAME 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Matchup | Time | TV / Streaming |
| Phillies @ Braves | 2 p.m. ET | NBC & Peacock |
| White Sox @ Astros | 5 p.m. ET | Peacock & NBCSN |
| Pink Sox @ Yankees | 8 p.m. ET | NBC & Peacock |
| Cubs @ Padres | 10 p.m. ET | Peacock & NBCSN |
| WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30 — WILD CARD SERIES GAME 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Matchup | Time | TV / Streaming |
| Phillies @ Braves | 2 p.m. ET | NBC & Peacock |
| White Sox @ Astros | 5 p.m. ET | Peacock & NBCSN |
| Pink Sox @ Yankees | 8 p.m. ET | NBC & Peacock |
| Cubs @ Padres | 10 p.m. ET | Peacock & NBCSN |
| THURSDAY, OCT. 1 — WILD CARD SERIES GAME 3 (IF NEEDED) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Base schedule if all 4 sequence go to Recreation 3 | ||
| Matchup | Time | TV / Streaming |
| Phillies @ Braves | 2 p.m. ET | NBC & Peacock |
| White Sox @ Astros | 5 p.m. ET | Peacock & NBCSN |
| Pink Sox @ Yankees | 8 p.m. ET | NBC & Peacock |
| Cubs @ Padres | 10 p.m. ET | Peacock & NBCSN |
| GAME 3 CONTINGENCY SCENARIOS | |
|---|---|
| If Sequence Already Over | Remaining Recreation 3 Schedule |
| Phillies vs. Braves is over | White Sox @ Astros: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Pink Sox @ Yankees: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Cubs @ Padres: 10 p.m. ET (Peacock & NBCSN) |
| Cubs vs. Padres is over | Phillies @ Braves: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) White Sox @ Astros: 5 p.m. ET (Peacock & NBCSN) Pink Sox @ Yankees: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| Pink Sox vs. Yankees is over | Phillies @ Braves: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) White Sox @ Astros: 5 p.m. ET (Peacock & NBCSN) Cubs @ Padres: 8 p.m. ET (Peacock & NBCSN) |
| White Sox vs. Astros is over | Phillies @ Braves: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Pink Sox @ Yankees: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Cubs @ Padres: 10 p.m. ET (Peacock & NBCSN) |
| BOS@NYY and CWS@HOU are over | Phillies @ Braves: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Cubs @ Padres: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| PHI@ATL and CHC@SD are over | White Sox @ Astros: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Pink Sox @ Yankees: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| BOS@NYY and PHI@ATL are over | White Sox @ Astros: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Cubs @ Padres: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| BOS@NYY and CHC@SD are over | White Sox @ Astros: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Phillies @ Braves: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| CWS@HOU and PHI@ATL are over | Pink Sox @ Yankees: 7 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Cubs @ Padres: 9:30 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| CWS@HOU and CHC@SD are over | Phillies @ Braves: 2 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) Pink Sox @ Yankees: 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| Anyone-game situation (just one Recreation 3 wanted) | That single Recreation 3 airs at 8 p.m. ET (NBC & Peacock) |
| All Wild Card Sequence video games streaming on Peacock; NBCSN out there through YouTube TV, Fubo, and Xfinity. Peacock exclusives require Premium or Premium Plus subscription. | |
Sunday closed out two of the tightest remaining races. The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 to assert the ultimate Nationwide League wild card and the No. 6 seed, eliminating the Arizona Diamondbacks after Arizona’s 9-4 loss at San Diego. Within the American League, the Texas Rangers fell to the Minnesota Twins 6-4 whereas the Houston Astros routed the Athletics 9-0, handing Houston the AL West title and the No. 3 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker. That locks the 12-team area, with the 4 division-winning byes locked in above and every Wild Card Sequence belonging to the upper seed for all three video games.
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