With the MLB Draft and All-Star festivities on the docket, July is always an exciting part of the baseball season.
As the calendar transitions into July this week, several exciting series are on tap, including rematches of two 2025 playoff clashes -- the NL Wild Card Series and the ALCS.
Here are five series to watch for the week of June 29.
Pirates at Phillies
4 games (Monday-Thursday)
Head-to-head: The Phillies swept a three-game series at PNC Park from May 15-17, erasing an 8-1 deficit in the first game to win in extra innings.
Storyline: Will the Phillies stay hot? After Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Mets, they’re 7-3 in their past 10 games, and they’re 38-18 since relieving manager Rob Thomson of his duties following a 9-19 start to the season. Their recent stretch of play included three straight dramatic wins in Washington, all of which featured go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning. With Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler slated to pitch on Tuesday and Wednesday (with Wheeler opposing Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes), can Philadelphia keep it up in a four-game home series against Pittsburgh?
Watch out for: Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds. The veteran’s 17-game hitting streak ended Sunday, but Reynolds has been scorching hot in June, batting .308 with a .949 OPS for the month, and his season numbers (.286/.402/.472 with 11 homers and 52 RBIs) look excellent. After a down year in 2025 (.720 OPS), Reynolds has rebounded in a big way.
Padres at Cubs
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)
Head-to-head: The Cubs and Padres met for three games at Petco Park from April 27-29. After San Diego won the opener at home, Chicago won the next two contests to take home a series win, including a 5-4 victory in the finale.
Storyline: The Padres and Cubs notably matched up in a thrilling NL Wild Card Series in 2025, a low-scoring set featuring just 11 total runs. Chicago won the first and third games at Wrigley Field to advance to take on the Brewers in the NLDS. Both teams are playing well heading into this series on the North Side, with the Padres coming off a recent sweep of the Braves and the Cubs pulling off a four-game road sweep of the Mets before winning two of three in Milwaukee.
Watch out for: Pete Crow-Armstrong. The Cubs star has the best OPS in the Majors (min. 75 plate appearances) since June began, batting .367 with 10 home runs, eight stolen bases and a .765 slugging percentage to raise his season slash line to .278/.364/.505. He has also more than doubled his walk rate from 2025 (4.5%) to 2026 (9.9%). Crow-Armstrong’s numbers dipped last season after an excellent first half, so he’ll be hoping to sustain his production all year this time around.
Dodgers at Athletics
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)
Head-to-head: This series is the lone matchup between these two Interleague rivals in 2026. Last season, the Dodgers won two of three against the A’s in Los Angeles, including a 19-2 win in the series finale.
Storyline: Are the A’s truly contenders in the AL West? They’re only two games out of the division lead after Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Angels, so it’s not far-fetched. That said, though, their -54 run differential is the second worst in the AL. The A’s haven’t played their best baseball in West Sacramento this season, but last year, they captured home series wins over the Blue Jays, Mariners, Tigers, Reds and Astros from July on. The MLB-best Dodgers will be a huge test.
Watch out for: Mookie Betts. After a tough 2025 and a subpar first half of 2026, Betts is heating up. The shortstop had an OPS as low as .632 through June 16 but is 15-for-41 (.366) with four home runs and a 1.129 OPS in his past 10 games. On Wednesday, he hit his 300th career homer. Having a red-hot Betts in a lineup featuring Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker is a great development for the Dodgers.
Rays at Astros
3 games (Friday-Sunday)
Head-to-head: This is the first series of the year between these two AL foes, who will also meet from Sept. 11-13 at Tropicana Field. In 2025, the Rays went 4-3 against the Astros, taking two of three at the Trop and splitting a four-game set at Daikin Park in Houston.
Storyline: Can the Astros keep turning things around? Houston is 9-3 in its past 12 games and sits just one game behind the Rangers in a wide-open AL West despite a poor start to the year. The Astros are getting healthier, with closer Josh Hader and ace Hunter Brown off the injured list and starters Lance McCullers Jr. and Cristian Javier soon to follow. A home series against one of the AL’s top clubs will be a good midseason barometer for their progress.
Watch out for: Junior Caminero, who is on a home run surge. On Sunday, the Rays third baseman went yard AGAIN (a 463-foot blast against the D-backs), giving him six home runs in his past four games and seven in his past six contests, including a three-homer day on Thursday against the Royals. A dark-horse AL MVP candidate at the beginning of the year, Caminero is making a push for some postseason hardware. On the season, he has a .292/.384/.548 slash line with 22 dingers and 49 RBIs.
Blue Jays at Mariners
3 games (Friday-Sunday)
Head-to-head: These two teams have yet to face off in 2026, with their other meeting scheduled for Aug. 28-30 in Toronto. During the 2025 regular season, the Mariners won two out of three in April at Rogers Centre but were swept in a three-game set in May at T-Mobile Park.
Storyline: This will be the first meeting between Seattle and Toronto since last year’s thrilling seven-game ALCS, which the Blue Jays won on George Springer’s three-run homer in Game 7 before losing the World Series to the Dodgers, also in seven games. But since then, neither club has played inspiring baseball: The Blue Jays are 39-45 and third in the AL East, while the Mariners are in second in the AL West at 42-43. Will this series be a turning point for either team?
Watch out for: Blue Jays right-hander Shane Bieber. The hurler made his season debut on Tuesday against the Astros after recovering from forearm and elbow issues, adding a veteran arm to Toronto’s rotation. His second start on Sunday against the Rangers was an improvement as Bieber allowed just two runs in 5 1/3 innings, striking out four to surpass the 1,000-K threshold for his career. Lined up to pitch against the Mariners, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner has a career 3.27 ERA in nine seasons.