Postseason baseball returns to "Bases Covered Live" this Wednesday with a Wild Card Series doubleheader. American League Central rivals clash as the Cleveland Guardians host the Detroit Tigers, before the Chicago Cubs welcome the San Diego Padres to Wrigley Field. Here are five things to know while you wait for the action to get underway.
1. Before we get into the specifics, it’s worth noting that these will be the second games of their respective Wild Card Series, with the postseason officially getting underway on Tuesday night. They're playing in a best-of-three series, which means whoever gets off to a winning start in Game 1 has the chance to complete a first-round sweep on Wednesday.
2. Let’s get things started with the AL Central champions, the Cleveland Guardians. They just completed the biggest comeback to clinch a division title in baseball history. Back in July they trailed the Tigers by 15 1/2 games, with a 0.2% chance to win the Central. Fast forward two-and-a-half months and they’ve somehow managed to do just that. The fact that they’ll face those very same Tigers in the Wild Card just makes that narrative all the sweeter.
3. Don’t let the fact that they lost the division detract from what has been a truly excellent season for the Tigers. After scraping into the postseason against the odds last year, their young squad look to have fully matured this year. The so-called "Gritty Tigs" will be desperate to avenge last year’s ALDS defeat at the hands of the very same Guardians.
4. Switching attention to the National League, the Padres prepare for their fourth Wild Card Series appearance in six seasons. They’ve never lost at this stage of postseason, though they’ve also never made it all the way to the hallowed grounds of a World Series title. In fact, they’re one of three teams to make it to October this year who are without a championship (the Mariners and Brewers are the others).
The Padres last appeared in the Fall Classic in 1998, when they were swept by the Yankees. Perhaps this is the year they put things right.
5. The Padres will need to get past the Cubs, a team plenty familiar with breaking curses, having famously ended the longest drought in North American sports when they finally won it all after 108 years back in 2016. The Chicagoans have struggled in October ever since: This is their first time in the postseason since 2020, and they’ve only gone past the Wild Card round once since their iconic title. Can they change that this year?