![\"MLB](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790183059_98_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe 2026 MLB season is in its final days, which means the playoffs are just on the horizon. While many teams are locked into playoff spots, a few final spots remain up for grabs, as well as playoff seeding and tiebreaker scenarios. <\/p>\n
In this article, which we\u2019ll update every day until the end of the year, we\u2019ll go over the updated playoff picture, break down the MLB standings, and discuss the implications of the remaining few games. Let\u2019s dive in. <\/p>\n
Current MLB Playoff Seeding<\/p>\n
This is a good time to remind you that, in Major League Baseball, the three division winners will always be the top three seeds. That is especially relevant in the American League where the Wild Card teams both have better records than two of the three division winners. Yet, it will be the division winners who get a bye and also get home-field advantage. If there is a tie in regular season records, then a tiebreaker (record season head-to-head) determines who is the home team and higher seed for the matchup. <\/p>\n
American League<\/p>\n
1. Tampa Bay Rays (Clinched AL East)
Record: 96-61
Tiebreaker: Secured tiebreaker over Yankees
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ NYY (2), @ PHI (3)<\/p>\n
2. Cleveland Guardians (AL Central leader)
Record: 82-75
Seeding: Magic number for playoff birth is 2 and to win the AL Central is 5
Tiebreaker: have secured a tiebreaker over the Orioles, but lost tiebreakers to White Sox, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Astros. Red Sox tiebreaker will be decided with current series.
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ BOS (2), @ KC (3)<\/p>\n
3. Houston Astros (AL West leader)
Record: 78-79
Seeding: Magic number for playoff berth and AL West title is 5
Tiebreaker: Secured a tiebreaker over the Guardians, White Sox, and Rangers but lost a tiebreaker to the Orioles
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ SEA (1), @ ATH (4)<\/p>\n
4. New York Yankees (wild card)
Record: 90-67<\/p>\n
Seeding: Clinched playoff berth<\/p>\n
Tiebreaker: Secured a tiebreaker over the Red Sox but lost one to the Rays.
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. TB (2), vs. BAL (3)<\/p>\n
5. Boston Red Sox (wild card)
Record: 84-73
Seeding: Clinched playoff berth<\/p>\n
Tiebreaker: Secured a tiebreaker over the White Sox but lost a tiebreaker to the Yankees. Guardians tiebreaker will be decided with current series.
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. CLE (2), vs. CHC (3)<\/p>\n
6. Chicago White Sox (wild card)
Record: 81-76
Seeding: Magic number to secure playoff berth is 2
Tiebreaker: Has secured a tiebreaker over the Guardians, Rangers, and Blue Jays but lost tiebreakers to the Red Sox, Astros, and Orioles
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ KC (2), vs. COL (3)<\/p>\n
National League<\/p>\n
1. Milwaukee Brewers (Clinched NL Central)
Record: 98-59
Seeding: Magic number to secure 1st seed is four games
Tiebreaker: Have a tiebreaker over the Dodgers
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ PHI (2), vs. STL (3)<\/p>\n
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (Clinched NL West)
Record: 97-60
Seeding: Could still get the 1st seed
Tiebreaker: Lost tiebreakers to both the Brewers and Braves
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. SD (2), @ SF (3) <\/p>\n
3. Atlanta Braves (Clinched NL East)
Record: 92-65
Tiebreaker: Has a tiebreaker over the Dodgers and Phillies but lost a tiebreaker to the Padres
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. CIN (2), @ MIA (3)<\/p>\n
4. Chicago Cubs
Record: 87-70
Seeding: Magic number to secure a playoff spot is 1
Tiebreaker: Have secured tiebreakers over the Padres, Phillies, and Diamondbacks
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. MIA (2), @ BOS (3)<\/p>\n
5. Philadelphia Phillies
Record: 87-70
Seeing: Magic number to secure a playoff spot is 2
Tiebreaker: Has secured a tiebreaker over the Padres but lost a tiebreaker to the Braves and Cubs
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. MIL (2), vs. TB (3)<\/p>\n
6. San Diego Padres
Record: 87-70
Seeing: Magic number to secure a playoff spot is 2
Tiebreaker: Has secured a tiebreaker over the Braves but lost tiebreakers to the Cubs and Phillies
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ LAD (2), vs. AZ (3)<\/p>\n
Current MLB Playoff Bracket<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Who Is Still in Contention?American League <\/p>\n
Texas Rangers
Situation: Texas is two games back from the final Wild Card spot and tied with the Astros for the AL West title, but the Astros have the tiebreaker
Record: 78-79
Tiebreaker: Secured tiebreaker over Guardians, Blue Jays, and Orioles but lost a tiebreaker to the White Sox and Astros
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. NYM (2), @ MIN (3)<\/p>\n
Toronto Blue Jays
Situation: Four games behind the White Sox for the final Wild Card spot. Eliminated with a loss or a White Sox win.
Record: 77-80
Tiebreaker: Secured a tiebreaker over the Guardians but lost one to the Rangers and White Sox
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ BAL (2), vs. CIN (3)<\/p>\n
Baltimore Orioles
Situation: Five games behind the White Sox for the final Wild Card spot. Eliminated with a loss or a White Sox win.
Record: 76-81
Tiebreaker: Secured a tiebreaker over the White Sox, Astros but lost a tiebreaker to the Guardians and Rangers
Remaining schedule: 5 left: vs. TOR (2), @ NYY (3)<\/p>\n
National League<\/p>\n
Arizona Diamondbacks
Situation: Four games behind the Padres, Cubs, and Phillies for the final Wild Card spot. Magic number for elimination is 2.
Record: 83-74
Tiebreaker: Lost a tiebreaker to the Cubs. Padres tiebreaker will be decided by upcoming series.
Remaining schedule: 5 left: @ COL (2), @ SD (3)<\/p>\n
Clinching Scenarios <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Guardians can clinch a playoff berth with a win vs. the Red Sox AND a Rangers loss to the Mets or an Astros loss to the Mariners.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the White Sox can clinch a playoff berth with a win vs. the Royals AND a Rangers loss to the Mets.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Dodgers can clinch at least the No. 2 seed and a bye with a win vs. the Padres OR a Braves loss to the Reds.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Cubs can clinch a playoff berth with a win vs. the Marlins OR a Diamondbacks loss to the Rockies. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Padres can clinch a playoff berth with a win vs. the Dodgers AND a Diamondbacks loss to the Rockies.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Phillies can clinch a playoff berth with a win vs. the Brewers AND a Diamondbacks loss to the Rockies.<\/p>\n
2026 MLB Playoff Schedule Wild-card series (ALL GAMES WILL BE ON PEACOCK)<\/p>\n
Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 29
Game 2: Wednesday, Sept. 30
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 1*<\/p>\n
Division series<\/p>\n
NLDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 3
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 4
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 6
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 7*
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 9*<\/p>\n
ALDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 3
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 5
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 7
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 8*
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 10* (*if necessary)<\/p>\n
Championship series<\/p>\n
NLCS
Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 11
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 12
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 14
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 15
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 16*
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 18*
Game 7: Monday, Oct. 19*<\/p>\n
ALCS
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 12
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 13
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 15
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 16
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 17*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 19*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 20* (*if necessary)<\/p>\n
World Series<\/p>\n
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 23
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 24
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 26
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 27
Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 28*
Game 6: Friday, Oct. 30*
Game 7: Saturday, Oct. 31* (*if necessary)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 MLB season is in its final days, which means the playoffs are just on the horizon.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-902733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}