After a 162-game season that began way back in March, a dozen teams remain with World Series dreams as the calendar turns to October. Baseball’s postseason gets underway today with a quartet of Wild Card series. Each series is the best of three games, with the higher seed hosting all three games.
In the American League, the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays face off in one series, while the Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins play in the other. In the National League, the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Miami Marlins play the Philadelphia Phillies. The top two division winners in each league earned first-round byes: the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros in the AL, and the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL.
Wild Card games will be shown on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. After Thursday, however, coverage shifts to Fox and FS1 for the ALDS and ALCS, and TBS for the NLDS and NLCS. The 2023 World Series will be shown on Fox.
What is the schedule for the Wild Card series?
There are no off days for the Wild Card teams. The Wild Card round starts on Tuesday, with Game 2 of each series scheduled for Wednesday. Any Wild Card series that goes the full three games will be settled on Thursday. The Rays, Twins, Brewers and Phillies are the higher seeds and will host each series.
Here are the times and channels for each series (all times ET):
Tuesday, Oct. 3
- Game 1: Rays vs. Rangers, 3:08 p.m. on ABC
- Game 1: Twins vs. Blue Jays, 4:38 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 1: Brewers vs. Diamondbacks, 7:08 p.m. on ESPN2
- Game 1: Phillies vs. Marlins, 8:08 p.m. on ESPN
Wednesday, Oct. 4
- Game 2: Rays vs. Rangers, 3:08 p.m. on ABC
- Game 2: Twins vs. Blue Jays, 4:38 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 2: Brewers vs. Diamondbacks, 7:08 p.m. on ESPN2
- Game 2: Phillies vs. Marlins, 8:08 p.m. on ESPN
Thursday, Oct. 5 (if necessary)
- Game 3: Rays vs. Rangers, 3:08 p.m. on ABC
- Game 3: Twins vs. Blue Jays, 4:38 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 3: Brewers vs. Diamondbacks, 7:08 p.m. on ESPN2
- Game 3: Phillies vs. Marlins, 8:08 p.m. on ESPN
You can see the full postseason schedule here.
How to watch the Wild Card round without cable
If you don’t have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can watch all four Wild Card series with a live TV service. ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 are available on each of the five major streaming services, but not every service carries every local network in every area, so Rays and Rangers fans will need to check each service using the links below to make sure it carries ABC where they live.
All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.