{"id":348608,"date":"2025-09-28T22:03:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/348608\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T22:03:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:03:21","slug":"mlb-playoffs-2025-tracker-guardians-win-al-central-mets-eliminated-as-reds-clinch-playoff-bracket-schedule-clinch-scenarios-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/348608\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB playoffs 2025 tracker: Guardians win AL Central, Mets eliminated as Reds clinch \u2014 playoff bracket, schedule, clinch scenarios and more"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Before diving into a breakdown of the playoff picture, here&#8217;s what&#8217;s at stake Sunday and what has happened so far:<\/p>\n<p>The Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, clinching the AL Central title and a historic comeback for the Cleveland Guardians. With that result, the Guardians secure the No. 3 seed, the Red Sox get the No. 5, and the Tigers are the No. 6 in the American League.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Mets were eliminated with their loss to the Marlins. The Cincinnati Reds also lost Sunday, but they held the tiebreaker and therefore clinched the final NL wild card with New York&#8217;s loss.<\/p>\n<p>The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees are tied atop the AL East. The winner gets the No. 1 seed in the AL and a bye to the division series; the loser gets the top wild card and the No. 4 seed. The Yankees won Sunday, but the Jays hold the tiebreaker, so they can clinch the division title with a victory.<\/p>\n<p>Who has clinched a spot in the playoffs?American League:<\/p>\n<p>Blue Jays: Tied with the Yankees atop the AL East; the winner will clinch the No. 1 seed in the AL, while the loser will settle for the top wild card and the No. 4 seed. Toronto holds the tiebreaker.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Yankees: Tied with the Blue Jays atop the AL East; the winner will clinch the No. 1 seed in the AL, while the loser will settle for the top wild card and the No. 4 seed.<\/p>\n<p>No. 2 Mariners: <a data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/breaking-news\/article\/mariners-clinch-al-west-title-as-cal-raleigh-hits-his-60th-homer-of-season-040907913.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Won the AL West;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Won the AL West<\/a>; clinched a bye to the ALDS.<\/p>\n<p>No. 3 Guardians: Won the AL Central with a historic comeback; will host the Tigers in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n<p>No. 5 Red Sox: Clinched the second AL wild card; will face the Yankees or Blue Jays in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n<p>No. 6 Tigers: Clinched the third AL wild card; will face the Guardians in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n<p>National League:<\/p>\n<p>No. 1 Brewers: <a data-i13n=\"cpos:2;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/breaking-news\/article\/brewers-clinch-mlbs-first-playoff-spot-then-rally-to-walk-off-cardinals-in-extra-innings-045009005.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Won the NL Central;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Won the NL Central<\/a> with MLB&#8217;s best record; clinched a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>No. 2 Phillies: <a data-i13n=\"cpos:3;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/breaking-news\/article\/phillies-rally-past-dodgers-in-extra-innings-thriller-clinch-nl-east-060409508.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Won the NL East;cpos:3;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Won the NL East<\/a>; clinched a bye to the NLDS.<\/p>\n<p>No. 3 Dodgers: <a data-i13n=\"cpos:4;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/breaking-news\/article\/dodgers-clinch-nl-west-title-with-win-over-diamondbacks-moving-out-of-padres-reach-221654906.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Won the NL West;cpos:4;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Won the NL West<\/a>; will host the Reds in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n<p>No. 4 Cubs: Clinched the top NL wild card; will host the Padres in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n<p>No. 5 Padres: Clinched the second NL wild card; will face the Cubs in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n<p>No. 6 Reds: Clinched the third NL wild card; will face the Dodgers in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n<p>What is the playoff bracket?<img alt=\"(Davis Long\/Yahoo Sports)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1200\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/be8c3750-9c12-11f0-bffb-c089c46f8777.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>(Davis Long\/Yahoo Sports)<\/p>\n<p>American League<\/p>\n<p>Wild card: No. 6 Detroit Tigers vs. No. 3 Cleveland Guardians <br \/>ALDS: Wild-card winner vs. No. 2 Seattle Mariners<\/p>\n<p>Wild card: No. 5 Boston Red Sox vs. No. 4 New York Yankees <br \/>ALDS: Wild-card winner vs. No. 1 Toronto Blue Jays<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>National League<\/p>\n<p>Wild card: No. 6 Cincinnati Reds vs. No. 3 L.A. Dodgers <br \/>NLDS: Wild-card winner vs. No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies<\/p>\n<p>Wild card: No. 5 San Diego Padres vs. No. 4 Chicago Cubs <br \/>NLDS: Wild-card winner vs. No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s the schedule for the postseason?Wild card Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 30 (best of three)<\/p>\n<p>AL: TBD at TBD, 1:08 p.m. ET, ESPN <br \/>NL: Padres at Cubs, 3:08 p.m. ET, ABC <br \/>AL: TBD at TBD, 6:08 p.m. ET, ESPN<br \/>NL: Reds at Dodgers, 9:08 p.m. ET, ESPN<\/p>\n<p>Wild card Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 1<\/p>\n<p>AL: TBD, 1:08 p.m. ET, ESPN<br \/>NL: Padres at Cubs, 3:08 p.m. ET, ABC<br \/>AL: TBD, 6:08 p.m. ET, ESPN<br \/>Reds at Dodgers, 9:08 p.m. ET, ESPN<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Wild card Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 2*Division series (best of five)<\/p>\n<p>ALDS<\/p>\n<p>Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4<br \/>Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5<br \/>Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7<br \/>Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8*<br \/>Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10*<\/p>\n<p>NLDS<\/p>\n<p>Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4<br \/>Game 2: Monday, Oct. 6<br \/>Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 8<br \/>Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 9*<br \/>Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 11*<\/p>\n<p>Championship series (best of seven)<\/p>\n<p>ALCS<\/p>\n<p>Game 1: Sunday, Oct 12<br \/>Game 2: Monday, Oct. 13<br \/>Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 15<br \/>Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 16<br \/>Game 5: Friday, Oct. 17*<br \/>Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 19*<br \/>Game 7: Monday, Oct. 20*<\/p>\n<p>NLCS<\/p>\n<p>Game 1: Monday, Oct 13<br \/>Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 14<br \/>Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 16<br \/>Game 4: Friday, Oct. 17<br \/>Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 18* <br \/>Game 6: Monday, Oct. 20*<br \/>Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 21*<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>World Series (best of seven)<\/p>\n<p>Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24<br \/>Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25<br \/>Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27<br \/>Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28<br \/>Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29*<br \/>Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31*<br \/>Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1*<\/p>\n<p>(*if necessary)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before diving into a breakdown of the playoff picture, here&#8217;s what&#8217;s at stake Sunday and what has happened&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[8125,5,136,50,51,161,53,39,2328,2304,620,1816,4,2305,2303,61,62,41223,43,40,89,70,7875],"class_list":{"0":"post-348608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-al-east","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brewers","11":"tag-cincinnati-reds","12":"tag-cleveland-guardians","13":"tag-cubs","14":"tag-detroit-tigers","15":"tag-dodgers","16":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","17":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","18":"tag-mariners","19":"tag-marlins","20":"tag-mlb","21":"tag-mlb-playoffs","22":"tag-mlb-postseason","23":"tag-new-york-mets","24":"tag-new-york-yankees","25":"tag-nl-wild-card","26":"tag-padres","27":"tag-phillies","28":"tag-red-sox","29":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","30":"tag-wild-card"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115284187897979797","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}