Get excited baseball fans - the MLB playoffs are underway! After another thrilling regular season, 12 teams now advance to October baseball with hopes of winning the World Series.
Here's how it works:
Each league sends their top 3 division winners and 3 wildcard teams. The wildcards and lowest ranked division winner play an extra best-of-3 series in order to reach the main bracket. From there, it's 2 rounds of playoffs before the World Series.
So far, playoff baseball has been full of surprises. Big underdog wins in the wild card series came from The Minnesota Twins who won their first playoff series since 2004, shocking the Toronto Blue Jays. The 6th seeded Arizona Diamondbacks, who knocked out the Milwaukee Brewers behind clutch homers from Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte. And the scrappy Phillies, who swept the Miami Marlins as they try to improve on last year's so close World Series push.
The series now moves into the best-of-5 game format, Divisional Rounds, where the World Series favorite L.A Dodgers and Atlanta Braves are both struggling. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw had his worst-ever playoff start this past weekend, letting up 6 runs in the first inning against the Diamondbacks, leading to their Game 1 loss. Last night, the Dodgers lost, going down 0-2 as the series slithers down to the deserts of Phoenix, AZ.
As for the Braves, they had Game 1 stolen from them by star Bryce Harper and the Phillies, but a late home run from Austin Riley in game two now leaves the series tied 1-1, heading into game three in Philadelphia, PA.
Other key series are also delivering drama:
The Minnesota Twins battled in their series with the Houston Astros, now tied 1 a piece.
Meanwhile, the top American League team, Baltimore Orioles and their young star Gunnar Henderson find themselves in a hole, down 2 games against Corey Seager's surging Texas Rangers.
The Astros and Twins start at 4:07 PM followed by the Orioles and Rangers at 8:03 PM EST Both on Fox.
Who do you think will be taking home the commissioners trophy this year? Let us know by texting Current2 your pick, and if you liked this sports coverage let us know and we’ll be sure to bring you more.
Sources
MLB wild card: Day 1 takeaways, keys to Game 2 - ESPN
Major League Baseball Wild Card - Wikipedia
Correa vs. Astros? Phils-Braves rematch? That's just the start
What you thought you knew about the top 4 seeds in Division Series
How MLB playoffs work: How many teams, format and more
What happened in the MLB Wild Card Series: Full results - The Athletic
