2024 MLB playoff tracker: Schedule, clinching scenarios, bracket
As the final month of the 2024 MLB regular season plays out, a few teams are already looking to October.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies have opened comfortable leads in the National League while the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians all seem like locks for postseason spots despite being in races at the top of their own divisions.
Beyond division races, there are many storylines to watch as the regular season comes to an end.
Where do the current playoff matchups stand? What games should you be paying attention to today? Who will be the first team to clinch a postseason berth? And what does the playoff schedule look like? We have everything you need to know as the regular season hits the homestretch.
Key links: Full MLB standings | Wild-card standings | Predictions
Who can clinch a playoff spot next?
The New York Yankees have a magic number of three; they can clinch a postseason spot on Wednesday. The Cleveland Guardians’ magic number is three; they can also clinch a spot on Wednesday.
In the NL, the Philadelphia Phillies’ magic number to clinch the postseason is three; their magic number to clinch the NL East is five. The Milwaukee Brewers’ magic number to clinch the NL central is two. The Dodgers have a magic number of three. The Brewers could clinch their postseason spot on Tuesday; the Phillies and Dodgers can clinch as soon as Wednesday.
What are this October’s MLB playoff matchups as it stands now?
American League
Wild-card round: (6) Twins at (3) Astros, (5) Royals at (4) Orioles
ALDS: Twins/Astros vs. (2) Guardians, Royals/Orioles vs. (1) Yankees
National League
Wild-card round: (6) Mets at (3) Brewers, (5) D-backs at (4) Padres
NLDS: Mets/Brewers vs. (2) Dodgers, D-backs/Padres vs. (1) Phillies
Tiebreakers
If L.A. and Philadelphia tie for best record, the Phillies would get the top seed because of a better head-to-head record against the Dodgers this season.
Head-to-head season series would determine No. 1 AL seed if Cleveland finishes season tied with the AL East champ for league’s best record: Guardians over Orioles; Yankees over Guardians.
If Yankees, Orioles and Guardians all finish with the same record, Baltimore would get the AL’s top seed by virtue of intradivision record among the three teams.
If Baltimore and New York finish in a two-team tie, the Orioles currently hold the AL East tiebreaker because they lead the Yankees, 6-4, in the head-to-head season series (with three games remaining).
If Atlanta and New York tie, the Mets currently hold the final NL playoff spot by virtue of a better intradivision record since the teams are tied at 5-5 in the head-to-head season series (with three games remaining).
Breaking down the AL race
The Yankees and Orioles enter the homestretch battling for both the AL’s No. 1 seed and the AL East crown with the Red Sox still holding onto some hope in the AL wild-card race. After spending much of the season comfortably ahead in the AL Central, the Guardians are trying to outlast the Royals and Twins for the division crown while the Astros attempt to separate themselves from the Mariners in a two-team AL West race.
And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:
Breaking down the NL race
Five teams have separated themselves atop the NL standings with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets battling for the final playoff spot. The Phillies and Brewers are seemingly cruising to division titles. The Dodgers have opened up a lead in the NL West race, with the D-backs and Padres both also very likely to join L.A. in the postseason field.
And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:
Game of the day
Looking for something to watch today? Here’s the baseball game with the biggest playoff implications:
Playoff schedule
Wild-card series
Best of three, all games at better seed’s stadium
Game 1: Tuesday, Oct. 1
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 2
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 3*
Division series
Best of five
ALDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 5
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 7
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 9
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 10*
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 12*
NLDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 5
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 6
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 8
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 9*
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 11*
League championship series
Best of seven
ALCS
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 14
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 15
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 17
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 18
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 19*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 21*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 22*
NLCS
Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 13
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 14
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 16
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 17
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 18*
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 20*
Game 7: Monday, Oct. 21*
World Series
Best of seven
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 25
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 26
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 28
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 29
Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 30*
Game 6: Friday, Nov. 1*
Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 2*
Note: If both LCS end by Oct. 19 — meaning neither series lasts longer than five games — the World Series will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 22
* If necessary
Cincinnati Reds left-hander Wade Miley said Friday that he has not been accused of any wrongdoing, one day after reports stated a deposition from a lawsuit alleged he supplied Tyler Skaggs with drugs when both players were with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The deposition is part of a motion for summary judgment filed by the Los Angeles Angels, requesting a lawsuit from the Skaggs family be dismissed.
The deposition from Ryan Hamill, Skaggs’ agent, contains testimony that he was concerned in 2013 about Skaggs’ drug use. Hamill said he and Skaggs’ family confronted Skaggs about his drug use. Skaggs was then in his second season as a teammate of Miley with the Diamondbacks.
“He came clean,” Hamill testified. “He said he had been using — I believe it was Percocets — and he said he got them through Wade Miley.”
Skaggs died on July 1, 2019, at age 27 in a Dallas-area hotel. The autopsy found fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system.
Miley briefly addressed the issue before Friday’s road game against the Detroit Tigers.
“I hate what happened to Tyler, it sucks. My thoughts are with his family and his friends,” Miley said. “But I’m not going to sit here and talk about things that someone might have said about me or whatnot. I was never a witness for any of this. I was never accused of any wrongdoing.”
Former Angels communications director Eric Kay is serving a 22-year prison sentence in Texas after being found guilty on two charges of providing drugs related on Skaggs’ overdose.
The Athletic reported that the criminal proceedings against Kay included a recorded phone conversation in which Kay told his mother that Miley was a drug source to Skaggs.
Asked if Major League Baseball has contacted him regarding the allegations, Miley said, “I’d rather just focus on the Cincinnati Reds right now and baseball and what I have to do moving forward. I’ve got to get ready for a game on Sunday.”
Miley was mentioned in Kay’s criminal case, but he was never charged with a crime.
Skaggs was traded to the Angels after the 2013 season. He went 28-38 with a 4.41 ERA in 96 career starts.
Miley, 38, is with his eighth big league team and attempting to revive his career after Tommy John surgery in 2024.
Miley has a career 109-99 mark with a 4.09 ERA in 319 games (311 starts) since making his major league debut in 2011. This is his second go-round with the Reds. He was with the team in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, going 12-10 with a 3.55 ERA in 177⅓ innings over 34 starts (32 innings).
The Skaggs family is suing the Angels, contending that high-level team officials, as well as other employees, knew Kay was a drug user and should have known he was Skaggs’ source.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut