Major League Baseball has set the schedule for the first two games of the Wild Card Series this week, including for the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres.
The series between the Cubs and Padres, the only one of the four series currently set as the MLB season hits its final day, will start at Wrigley Field on Tuesday and will be a best-of-three series to determine who will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series.
According to Major League Baseball, both Games 1 and 2 between the Cubs and Padres will begin at 2:08 p.m. Central time on Tuesday and Wednesday. The league also announced that both games will air nationally on ABC.
Game 3 of the series, if necessary, would be played on Thursday. A start time has not yet been determined.
The Cubs earned home-field advantage in the wild card round with their win on Saturday over the St. Louis Cardinals. They have played the Padres in one other postseason series, with San Diego capturing the 1984 National League Championship Series in five games.
The Cubs have not yet announced who will be their starting pitcher for Game 1 of the series, with Cade Horton going on the injured list this week with a broken rib. It is expected that Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon or Collin Rea will make the start in the first two games of the wild card series.
If the Cubs can advance out of that series, they will take on the Brewers beginning Saturday at Milwaukee’s American Family Field. They have never faced the Brewers in the postseason, though Milwaukee did win a one-game tiebreaker over the Cubs in 2018 to capture the National League Central crown.
The other three series will also take place Tuesday through Thursday. The two American League series will begin at 12:08 p.m. and 5:08 p.m. Central time, and those games will air on ESPN.
Currently, two of the three division titles remain up for grabs, with only the Seattle Mariners having locked up their crown. They will receive a bye into the American League Division Series as the No. 2 seed.
The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees are tied atop the American League East, with the Blue Jays holding the tiebreaker. They will play the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, with a win guaranteeing them the top seed in the American League and a bye into the division series.
The second place team from the East will earn the top wild card spot and will host a wild card round series beginning Tuesday.
In the American League Central, the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers remain tied for the top spot, with the Guardians holding the tiebreaker. If they can win their game Sunday, they would capture the division crown and would host the wild card series in Cleveland beginning Tuesday.
The Boston Red Sox also need a win to lock up the second wild card spot in the American League.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, the winners of the National League West Division, will take on either the Cincinnati Reds or New York Mets beginning at 8:08 p.m. Tuesday in Game 1, with that game airing on ESPN.
The Reds hold a tiebreaker over the Mets entering the final game of the regular season, meaning a win over the Brewers would guarantee them a playoff berth. The Mets are taking on the Miami Marlins in their season finale.