Editor’s Picks 1 Related<\/p>\n Beyond division races, there are many storylines to watch as the regular season comes to an end and playoffs begin: Where do current playoff matchups stand? What games should you be paying attention to each day leading up to October? Who will be the next team to clinch a postseason berth? And what does the playoff schedule look like?<\/p>\n We have everything you need to know as the regular season hits the homestretch.<\/p>\n Key links: Full MLB standings<\/a> | Wild-card standings<\/a><\/p>\n Who’s in? Milwaukee Brewers<\/p>\n The Brewers clinched the season’s first playoff spot for a second consecutive year on Saturday with a Mets’ loss to Texas.<\/p>\n Philadelphia Phillies<\/p>\n The Phillies clinched a spot in October on Sunday with the Giants’ loss to the Dodgers. On Monday with a win over the Dodgers, they clinched the NL East title for the second straight year.<\/p>\n Chicago Cubs<\/p>\n The Cubs clinched their spot in the postseason on Wednesday with a win over the Pirates. It’s their first playoff appearance in a full-length season since 2018.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Dodgers<\/p>\n The Dodgers clinched their 13th consecutive playoff appearance on Friday when the Phillies beat the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n Who can clinch a playoff spot next?<\/p>\n The Blue Jays, Tigers, Yankees<\/a> and Padres<\/a> all have at least a 97% chance of making the postseason, as well.<\/p>\n What are this October’s MLB playoff matchups as it stands now?American League<\/p>\n Wild-card round: (6) Red Sox at (3) Mariners, (5) Astros at (4) Yankees<\/p>\n ALDS: Red Sox\/Mariners vs. (2) Tigers, Astros\/Yankees vs. (1) Blue Jays<\/p>\n National League<\/p>\n Wild-card round: (6) Mets at (3) Dodgers, (5) Padres at (4) Cubs<\/p>\n NLDS: Mets\/Dodgers vs. (2) Phillies, Padres\/Cubs vs. (1) Brewers<\/p>\n Breaking down the AL race<\/p>\n The Blue Jays have taken control of the race for the AL’s No. 1 seed, with Detroit all but a lock for the AL Central crown. While Toronto sits atop the AL East, the Boston Red Sox<\/a> and New York Yankees<\/a> are duking it out for wild-card seeding. And the Houston Astros<\/a> and Seattle Mariners<\/a> are attempting to separate themselves from each other in a two-team AL West race. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers<\/a> and Cleveland Guardians<\/a> remain within striking distance for the final wild-card spot.<\/p>\n And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:<\/p>\n The Brewers were the first MLB team to seal its spot in October, and the Phillies — who then sealed an NL East title — clinched next. A group of contenders have separated themselves atop the NL standings with the New York Mets<\/a> clinging to a lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>, San Francisco Giants<\/a> and Cincinnati Reds<\/a> for the final playoff spot, and there is plenty of intrigue in the NL West as the Dodgers attempt to fend off the Padres for the division crown.<\/p>\n And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:<\/p>\n Looking for something to watch today? Here’s the baseball game with the biggest playoff implications:<\/p>\n Wild-card series Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 30 Division series ALDS NLDS League championship series ALCS NLCS World Series Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24 * If necessary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sep 20, 2025, 01:24 AM ET A number of teams are starting to shift their focus to October…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-169561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758366489_806_r1539531_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center.jpeg\")
<\/a>![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mlb_rank_in_season_FC_1x1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center.jpeg\"){kind=spacer}
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758366489_121_mil.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758366490_235_phi.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758366490_484_chc.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758366490_702_lad.png&h=60&w=60.png\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/al_playoffs.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/al_rounds.jpg\")
Breaking down the NL race<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/nl_playoffs.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/nl_rounds.jpg\")
Game of the day<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_game_lev.jpg\")
Playoff schedule<\/p>\n
Best of three, all games at better seed’s stadium<\/p>\n
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 1
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 2*<\/p>\n
Best of five<\/p>\n
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8*
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10*<\/p>\n
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 6
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 8
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 9*
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 11*<\/p>\n
Best of seven<\/p>\n
Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 12
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 15
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 17*
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 19*
Game 7: Monday, Oct. 20*<\/p>\n
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 14
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 17
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 18*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 20*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 21*<\/p>\n
Best of seven<\/p>\n
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28
Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29*
Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31*
Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1*<\/p>\n