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There are still a couple weeks left to go in the 2022 MLB regular season, but a few teams are already looking toward October.

The Dodgers have officially secured the season’s first playoff berth, and the Houston Astros, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians followed next. Meanwhile, clubs such as the Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres, are battling it out for the remaining wild-card spots. Beyond division races, there are many storylines to watch as the regular season comes to an end and October begins, such as Seattle’s attempt to break a 21-year playoff drought, Aaron Judge‘s race to 62 home runs and Albert Pujols‘ quest for 700 career home runs.

Where do the current playoff matchups stand? What series should you be paying attention to in the coming week? And what does the playoff schedule look like? We have everything you need to know as the regular season winds down.

Key links: Standings | Wild-card standings | New tiebreaker format


What are this October’s MLB playoff matchups as it stands now?

American League

Wild-card round: (6) Mariners at (3) Guardians*, (5) Rays at (4) Blue Jays

ALDS: Mariners/Guardians vs. (2) Yankees*, Rays/Blue Jays vs. (1) Astros*

National League

Wild-card round: (6) Phillies at (3) Cardinals, (5) Padres at (4) Braves*

NLDS: Phillies/Cardinals vs. (2) Mets*, Padres/Braves vs. (1) Dodgers*

*Clinched playoff berth


Who is in?

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers secured the season’s first playoff berth — L.A.’s 10th straight trip to the postseason — and followed that by clinching the NL West with a win in Arizona the next day.

Houston Astros

The Astros became the second team to clinch a postseason berth and followed it up by clinching the AL West title, which is Houston’s fifth division crown in the past six seasons.

New York Mets

The Mets clinched a playoff spot with Max Scherzer’s 200th career win in Milwaukee. While New York is still chasing the bigger goal of an NL East title and the wild-card round bye that comes with it, this is the team’s first playoff appearance since 2016.

Atlanta Braves

While the battle for the NL East will likely come down to the wire, the defending champion Braves clinched a return to the postseason the day after the Mets.

New York Yankees

The Yankees secured their sixth straight playoff berth with a walk-off win over the Red Sox on Thursday night and now turn their attention to wrapping up the AL East, which they can clinch with a win at Toronto tonight.

Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians clinched the AL Central for the first time since 2018 with a 10-4 win over Texas on Sunday afternoon, becoming the sixth team to secure a postseason berth.


Who could be next?

St. Louis is counting down to a likely NL Central title thanks to a comfortable division lead over Milwaukee. The Cardinals can clinch with a win at Milwaukee on Tuesday or Wednesday.


Key upcoming series

Yankees at Blue Jays: Sept. 26-28

The Yankees look to clinch AL East race in a three-game series against a Blue Jays team that is trying to keep the Mariners and Rays at bay to maintain its No. 4 seed.

Cardinals at Brewers: Sept. 27-28

A two-game set between NL Central foes might be less enticing with the Brewers so many games behind, but it is worth watching with the Cardinals on the verge of clinching the division.

Dodgers at Padres: Sept. 27-29

The Dodgers have the franchise single-season wins record within reach, while the Padres are battling the Phillies and the surging Brewers for wild-card positioning.

Rays at Guardians: Sept. 27-29

Cleveland has now clinched the AL Central but will look to keep proving itself against fellow playoff contenders. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is locked in back-and-forth wild-card race with Seattle and Toronto.


Playoff schedule

Wild Card Series
Best of three, all games at better seed’s stadium

Game 1: Friday, Oct. 7
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 8
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 9*

Division Series
Best of five

ALDS
Game 1: Tuesday, Oct. 11
Game 2: Thursday, Oct. 13
Game 3: Saturday Oct. 15
Game 4: Sunday, Oct. 16*
Game 5: Monday, Oct. 17*

NLDS
Game 1: Tuesday, Oct. 11
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 12
Game 3: Friday, Oct. 14
Game 4: Saturday, Oct. 15*
Game 5: Sunday, Oct. 16*

League Championship Series
Best of seven

ALCS
Game 1: Wednesday, Oct. 19
Game 2: Thursday, Oct. 20
Game 3: Saturday Oct. 22
Game 4: Sunday, Oct. 23
Game 5: Monday, Oct. 24*
Game 6: Tuesday, Oct. 25*
Game 7: Wednesday Oct. 26*

NLCS
Game 1: Tuesday, Oct. 18
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 19
Game 3: Friday, Oct. 21
Game 4: Saturday, Oct. 22
Game 5: Sunday, Oct. 23*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 24*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 25*

World Series
Best of seven

Game 1: Friday, Oct. 28
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 29
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 31
Game 4: Tuesday, Nov. 1
Game 5: Wednesday, Nov. 2*
Game 6: Friday, Nov. 4*
Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 5*

* If necessary

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Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

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Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

STAMFORD, Conn. — The Kentucky Derby will remain on NBC through 2032 after the network and Churchill Downs Inc. extended their contract, announcing it hours before the running of the 150th race Saturday.

The race switched to NBC in 2001 after airing on ABC from 1975 to 2000 and CBS from 1952 to 1974. The multiyear extension will make NBC the longest-running home of the race for 3-year-old horses.

The deal includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and Derby and Oaks day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms.

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Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

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Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

The San Diego Padres have acquired second baseman Luis Arraez in a trade with the Miami Marlins for reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, the teams announced Saturday.

The Padres also received nearly $7.9 million in cash considerations, leaving them responsible only for the major league minimum salary for Arraez.

The transaction represents the first significant move for the Marlins since Peter Bendix took over as the team’s president of baseball operations in November after Kim Ng departed. It marks the beginning of the Marlins’ teardown of an underachieving roster that has produced the third-worst record in the majors at 9-25 with a minus-61 run differential after reaching the postseason in 2023.

On the other side, it’s another aggressive deal for A.J. Preller, the leader of the Padres’ front office since 2014. Arraez, one of the sport’s best contact hitters, will give the Padres a needed left-handed-hitting weapon after Juan Soto was sent to the New York Yankees in December. San Diego is 17-18 with a plus-6 run differential.

“It’s really amazing — that guy is a baller,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said about Arraez after the Padres’ win Friday night. “He’s probably the closest to Tony Gwynn right now, so looking forward to seeing him in our lineup. … The guy’s a pure hitter, and I can’t wait for him to help us.”

Miami is paying San Diego $7,898,602 of the $8,491,398 remaining for the final 149 days of Arraez’s $10.6 million salary. That left his cost to the Padres at $592,796 — exactly a prorated share of the $740,000 minimum.

Arraez, 27, was the Marlins’ best player, an All-Star and batting champion each of the past two seasons. This season, he is batting .299 with a .719 OPS in 33 games, all started at second base. He also has extensive experience at first base.

“When a guy like that is taken out of the lineup or potentially traded, you feel it, because he’s such a good kid and one of the leaders in that clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “so there’s definitely a shock value.”

Arraez is expected to start games as the Padres’ designated hitter, but the club plans to cycle through the DH spot. Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado could also get at-bats there. Bogaerts has been the club’s starting second baseman.

Go spent seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before signing a two-year deal with a mutual option worth $4.5 million guaranteed during the offseason. The 25-year-old right-hander appeared in 10 games for Double-A San Antonio, posting a 4.38 ERA across 12⅓ innings after failing to make the Padres’ bullpen out of spring training.

Head was the Padres’ first-round pick (25th overall) last year out of high school. The 19-year-old center fielder is batting .237 with a .683 OPS and three stolen bases in 21 games in low-Class A.

Martorella is batting .294 with an .820 OPS in 23 games in San Antonio. The Padres selected the 23-year-old first baseman in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. Marsee, a 22-year-old outfielder, has spent the season in San Antonio batting .185 with two home runs. He was a sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Central Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Yanks’ Cole takes next step, throws off mound

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Yanks' Cole takes next step, throws off mound

NEW YORK — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday morning for the first time since being shut down in mid-March, checking off another box in his road back from an elbow injury.

Cole took the mound in the Yankees’ bullpen at 10:40 a.m., hours before New York took on the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. He said he threw 15 pitches, 13 for strikes and all fastballs. He said the pitches averaged 89 mph.

“It was exciting,” Cole said. “This was a good day for me. I was fired up.”

Cole, 33, started the season on the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema in his pitching elbow following one spring training outing. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is eligible to come off the injured list May 27, but the Yankees have declined to share a timetable for Cole’s return.

On a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 being game ready — Cole reported he is “somewhere between 1 and 5.” He said how his body responds over the next 48 hours will decide when he throws off a mound again.

Cole’s injury was a significant blow to a club with championship-or-bust aspirations, but the Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of the best in the majors and a primary reason for the team’s 21-13 start. The rotation’s 3.43 ERA through Friday ranked ninth in the majors. Its 183⅔ innings pitched ranked fourth.

Luis Gil, Cole’s rotation replacement, logged the best start of his young career Wednesday, holding the explosive Baltimore Orioles scoreless on two hits over a career-high 6⅓ innings. Gil, 25, has recorded a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings across six starts despite leading the American League with 20 walks.

Earlier this week, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said neither the team’s nor the rotation’s success will impact Cole’s timeline. Asked whether the overall success has made his absence more “palatable,” Cole was unsure.

“I don’t really have anything unpalatable to compare it to,” Cole said. “You know what I’m saying? So I’m just kind of like, just like everybody else, just glad we’re playing well.”

Also on Saturday, the Yankees reinstated infielder Jon Berti from the 10-day injured list and designated former first-round pick Taylor Trammell for assignment.

Berti, 34, has been out of the Yankees’ lineup since April 10 with a left groin strain. The Yankees had selected Trammell off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 18, and he collected 1 hit, 1 walk and 2 runs in five games with New York.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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