Major League Baseball’s 2024 postseason has arrived. Fittingly, playoff baseball begins on Oct. 1 this year. The four best-of-three Wild Card Series (Astros vs. Tigers, Orioles vs. Royals, Brewers vs. Mets and Padres vs. Braves) will be held over the next three days, and the quartet of League Division Series will get started this Saturday (Oct. 5).
The playoff bracket was finalized Monday as the Mets and Braves claimed the final two spots by splitting a doubleheader in Atlanta. The Mets will face the Brewers in Milwaukee this week, while the Braves traveled west for a date with the Padres. The O’s and Royals are battling for the chance to face the Yankees in the ALDS, while the winner of Tigers-Astros will play the Guardians. The Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees and Guardians all have byes to the LDS round and will find out their opponents by Thursday night.
As a reminder, the 12-team playoff bracket is broken up into four rounds. Eight teams will play in the best-of-three Wild Card Series with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in each league hosting the No. 6 and No. 5 teams, respectively. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each league earn byes to the League Division Series, which gets started on Saturday, Oct. 5.
The 2024 World Series will either start on Friday, Oct. 25 or Tuesday, Oct. 22. The start date gets moved up if both the ALCS and NLCS end in five games or less.
Got it? Good. Below is the bracket and complete schedule for the 2024 postseason. MLB announced game times for the Wild Card Series on Sunday night.
Wild Card Series
Tuesday, Oct. 1
AL Wild Card Series Game 1: Tigers 3, Astros 1 (Detroit leads 1-0)
AL Wild Card Series Game 1: Royals 1, Orioles 0 (Kansas City leads 1-0)
NL Wild Card Series Game 1: Mets 8, Brewers 4 (New York leads 1-0)
NL Wild Card Series Game 1: Padres vs. Braves, 8:38 p.m., ESPN/fubo (try for free)
Wednesday, Oct. 2
AL Wild Card Series Game 2: Astros vs. Tigers, 2:32 p.m., ABC/fubo (try for free)
AL Wild Card Series Game 2: Orioles vs. Royals, 4:38 p.m, ESPN/fubo (try for free)
NL Wild Card Series Game 2: Brewers vs. Mets, 7:38 p.m., ESPN/fubo (try for free)
NL Wild Card Series Game 2: Padres vs. Braves, 8:38 p.m., ESPN2/fubo (try for free)
Thursday, Oct. 3
*AL Wild Card Series Game 3: Astros vs. Tigers, 2:32 p.m., ABC/fubo (try for free)
*AL Wild Card Series Game 3: Orioles vs. Royals, 4:08 p.m., ESPN/fubo (try for free)
*NL Wild Card Series Game 3: Padres vs. Braves, 7:08 p.m., ESPN/fubo (try for free)
*NL Wild Card Series Game 3: Brewers vs. Mets, 8:38 p.m., ESPN2/fubo (try for free)
*-if necessary
Division Series
Saturday, Oct. 5
ALDS Game 1: Guardians vs. TBD
ALDS Game 1: Yankees vs. TBD
NLDS Game 1: Phillies vs. TBD
NLDS Game 1: Dodgers vs. TBD
Sunday, Oct. 6
NLDS Game 2: Phillies vs. TBD
NLDS Game 2: Dodgers vs. TBD
Monday, Oct. 7
ALDS Game 2: Guardians vs. TBD
ALDS Game 2: Yankees vs. TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 8
NLDS Game 3: TBD vs. Phillies
NLDS Game 3: TBD vs. Dodgers
Wednesday, Oct. 9
ALDS Game 3: TBD vs. Guardians
ALDS Game 3: TBD vs. Yankees
NLDS Game 4: TBD vs. Phillies (if necessary)
NLDS Game 4: TBD vs. Dodgers (if necessary)
Thursday, Oct. 10
ALDS Game 4: TBD vs. Guardians (if necessary)
ALDS Game 4: TBD vs. Yankees (if necessary)
Friday, Oct. 11
NLDS Game 5: Phillies vs. TBD (if necessary)
NLDS Game 5: Dodgers vs. TBD (if necessary)
Saturday, Oct. 12
ALDS Game 5: Guardians vs. TBD (if necessary)
ALDS Game 5: Yankees vs. TBD (if necessary)
Championship Series
Sunday, Oct. 13
NLCS Game 1: TBD vs. TBD
Monday, Oct. 14
ALCS Game 1: TBD vs. TBD
NLCS Game 2: TBD vs. TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 15
ALCS Game 2: TBD vs. TBD
Wednesday, Oct. 16
NLCS Game 3: TBD vs. TBD
Thursday, Oct. 17
ALCS Game 3: TBD vs. TBD
NLCS Game 4: TBD vs. TBD
Friday, Oct. 18
ALCS Game 4: TBD vs. TBD
NLCS Game 5: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Saturday, Oct. 19
ALCS Game 5: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Sunday, Oct. 20
NLCS Game 6: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Monday, Oct 21
ALCS Game 6: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
NLCS Game 7: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Tuesday, Oct. 22
ALCS Game 7: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
World Series
(The 2024 World Series schedule is subject to change. Every game would be moved up by three days if both the ALCS and NLCS end in five games or less.)
Friday, Oct. 25
World Series Game 1: TBD vs. TBD
Saturday, Oct. 26
World Series Game 2: TBD vs. TBD
Monday, Oct. 28
World Series Game 3: TBD vs. TBD
Tuesday, Oct. 29
World Series Game 4: TBD vs. TBD
Wednesday, Oct. 30
World Series Game 5: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Friday, Nov. 1
World Series Game 6: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
Saturday, Nov. 2
World Series Game 7: TBD vs. TBD (if necessary)
