Major League Baseball’s 2026 regular season concludes on Sunday with Game 162, and there are still playoff spots to sort out.
MLB these days structures the schedule on the final day of the regular season so that all the games start around the same time. That’ll be the case this time around, albeit with a few exceptions. Two East Coast games — Orioles-Yankees in the Bronx and Mets-Nationals in D.C., neither of which matters to the playoff picture — were rescheduled at 1:05 p.m. ET because of weather concerns, though both are now opening in a rain delay. The Phillies-Rays game, with massive import to the National League wild-card race, has been moved up to 2:30 p.m. ET. The remainder of the 15 games on the slate will begin at either 3:05 or 3:10 ET. As for what’s at stake, there are two playoff berths still up for grabs.
AL West
It’s not exactly the most inspiring of races, as the Astros and Rangers come into Sunday tied atop the division with 80-81 records. However, the Astros hold the tiebreaker since they won the head-to-head season series against Texas. That means the Astros will take the division title and claim the third seed in the American League bracket with a win over the Athletics or a Rangers loss to the Twins. The Rangers, meantime, need an Astros loss and a win over the Twins in order to take the AL West title. Either way, the AL West winner will be the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs in a full season with a losing or .500 record.
The winner of the AL West will face the White Sox in the Wild Card Series.
NL wild card
The struggling Phillies and surging Diamondbacks are dueling for the third and final wild-card spot in the NL. The 87-74 Phillies come in having lost four in a row, but they’ll secure a postseason berth with a win over the Rays or a D-backs loss to the Padres. On the other side, the 86-75 D-backs, winners of six of their last seven, need a win over the Padres and a Phillies loss to the Rays.
Whoever’s left standing will match up with the Braves in the Wild Card Series.