Are you ready for the 2015 MLB postseason? The matchups are officially set after Sunday's contests and the playoffs will begin on Tuesday when the New York Yankees host the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Game.
The MLB regular season is in the books, so let's start with the AL playoff picture.
Houston was awarded a playoff spot after the Texas Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Angels and clinched the AL West division. The Angels needed to secure a win (and have the Astros lose) in order to force a one-game playoff to see which club would earn the second AL wild card spot.
However, the Rangers pummeled Los Angeles by a score of 9-2 and the Angels were eliminated from the postseason just one year after finishing with the best record in the MLB.
The other two AL division winners had already clinched, but they were vying for something else. The Kansas City Royals earned their 95th victory of the season while the Toronto Blue Jays lost four out of their past five games (including the final one of the season). Kansas City, now the official No. 1 seed in the American League, clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs thanks to the Blue Jays' struggles. The two clubs had the same record on Friday and were competing for supremacy in the AL.
The Royals swept the Minnesota Twins (which eliminated them from the postseason) and the Jays dropped two out of three against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Here are your AL division winners and wild cards:
AL East: Toronto Blue Jays (93-69)
AL Central: Kansas City Royals (95-67) *Home-field advantage throughout
AL West: Texas Rangers (88-74)
Wild Card #1: New York Yankees (87-75)
Wild Card #2: Houston Astros (86-76)
And here are the matchups for the first round of the postseason:
Wild Card Game: Houston Astros at New York Yankees (Tuesday, Oct. 6 @ 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN).
ALDS: Winner of Wild Card Game at Kansas City Royals (Thursday, Oct. 8)
ALDS: Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays (Thursday, Oct. 8)
As for the National League, it was a much less entertaining day for fans that were looking for down-to-the-wire excitement.
Only Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates fans were glued to their televisions to see which club would have home-field advantage in the NL Wild Card Game. Chicago needed to win against the Milwaukee Brewers and have Pittsburgh lose to the Cincinnati Reds to secure the game at Wrigley Field, but the Pirates won and will host the one-game playoff at PNC Park for the second consecutive year.
The St. Louis Cardinals clinched the No. 1 seed in the NL (and best record in the MLB) late last week while the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched home-field advantage in the NLDS on Saturday after the New York Mets were swept by the Washington Nationals in their doubleheader.
This playoff race has been much more clear than the AL as we approached the end of the regular season.
Here are your NL division winners and wild cards:
NL East: New York Mets (90-72)
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals (100-62) *Home-field advantage throughout
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers (92-70)
Wild Card #1: Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64)
Wild Card #2: Chicago Cubs (97-65)
And here are the matchups for the first round of the postseason:
Wild Card Game: Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates (Wednesday, Oct. 7 @ 8:00 p.m. ET on TBS)
NLDS: Winner of Wild Card Game at St. Louis Cardinals (Friday, Oct. 9 @ 6:30 p.m. on TBS)
NLDS: New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers (Friday, Oct. 9 @ 9:30 p.m. on TBS)
