The postseason bracket is set
The MLB Postseason bracket is set. All the teams have clinched and all the seeds are locked in, with all four Wild Card Series set to start on Friday.
The Braves locked down the lone remaining division title with their 2-1 win over the Marlins, their fifth straight NL East crown, which earns them a first-round bye. As the NL's No. 2 seed, they will face the winner of the Wild Card Series between the Cardinals and the No. 6 seed Phillies. Atlanta went 4-3 against the Cardinals and 11-8 against the division-rival Phillies this year.
The flip side of Atlanta's clinch is the Mets officially settling into the top NL Wild Card berth. New York will host the No. 5 seed Padres. San Diego and Philadelphia clinched the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively, on Tuesday night after the Padres beat the Giants and the Phils lost in Houston. The Padres went 4-2 vs. the Mets this year.
On the AL side, the Mariners' win in Game 1 of their doubleheader and the Rays' rain-shortened loss in Boston clinched for Seattle the AL's No. 5 seed and Tampa Bay the No. 6 seed. The Mariners will travel to Toronto and the Guardians will host the Rays for the AL Wild Card Series.
The Mariners went 5-2 vs. the Blue Jays, while the Guardians won the season series with the Rays 4-2.
Reminder: As part of the new collective bargaining agreement with the Players Association, Major League Baseball expanded the postseason field from 10 to 12 teams ahead of the 2022 season. Both the AL and NL now have three Wild Card berths (up from two), with the top two seeds in each league receiving first-round byes. The other teams will pair up for the best-of-three Wild Card Series, in which all three games will be played at the home of the higher seed, with winners advancing to the Division Series.
POSTSEASON MATCHUPS:
AL Wild Card Series (starts Oct. 7)
Best-of-three format (all games at higher seed)
Rays (6) at Guardians (3)
Mariners (5) at Blue Jays (4)
Astros (1) and Yankees (2) have byes
NL Wild Card Series (Oct. 7)
Best-of-three format (all games at higher seed)
Phillies (6) at Cardinals (3)
Padres (5) at Mets (4)
Dodgers (1) and Braves (2) have byes
AL Division Series (starts Oct. 11)
Best-of-five format
Mariners/Blue Jays at Astros
Rays/Guardians at Yankees
NL Division Series (starts Oct. 11)
Best-of-five format
Padres/Mets at Dodgers
Phillies/Cardinals at Braves
Tiebreakers of note
NL East: The Braves (101-60) and Mets (100-61) could finish with the same record, but Atlanta won the division title because it owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, 10-9, after sweeping this past weekend's three-game series.
*Note: Under this new playoff system, no extra games will be played to break ties. All ties, including those for division titles and postseason berths, will be settled via a series of tiebreakers, the first of which is head-to-head record.
Trending up: The Braves shook off a loss Monday to beat the Marlins on Tuesday to clinch the NL East, their eighth win in 10 games.
Trending down: The Rays are on a four-game losing streak and have gone 2-8 over their past 10.