MLB Wild Card weekend series start time, how to watch originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

It’s the best time of year for every baseball fan: October.

This month means playoff baseball is finally here, and there will be even more of it in 2022 with the new expanded postseason format.

Starting on Friday, eight teams will compete in the first ever Wild Card Series. In years past, this round was just a one game, winner-take-all contest between the two highest-finish non-division winners. Now, two division winners and six other wild card teams will battle to advance into the Division Series.

Here’s the full schedule, watch info, format and odds for the MLB Wild Card Series:

How many teams make the wild card in baseball?

Starting in 2022, there will be eight teams competing in the wild card – four in the American League and four in the National League. The wild card teams include the lowest division winner in each league and the three highest-finishing non-division winners in each league. The top two division winners in each league get a bye into the Division Series.

Here are the wild card teams and matchups entering the 2022 MLB postseason:

American League

No. 3 Cleveland Guardians (AL Central champ) vs. No. 6 Tampa Bay Rays
No. 4 Toronto Blue Jays vs. No. 5 Seattle Mariners

National League

No. 3 St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central champ) vs. No. 6 Philadelphia Phillies
No. 4 New York Mets vs. No. 5 San Diego Padres

How many games is the wild card series?

From 2012 to 2021 (except 2020), the wild card was just one game. But under the new collective bargaining agreement signed in March, each series will be best-of-three.

The higher seed will host every game in the series, and the games will all be played on consecutive days – much like a normal series in the regular season.

When does the MLB wild card series start?

The MLB Wild Card Series will start on Friday, Oct. 7. The second game for every series will be on Oct. 8 and any necessary third games will be held on Oct. 9.

What is the MLB wild card schedule?

It’s going to be non-stop action for baseball fans during the wild card round, with four guaranteed postseason games on Friday and Saturday.

How to watch the MLB wild card weekend 

All games will be available on either ESPN or ABC. 

Here’s the full schedule for this weekend:

Friday, Oct. 7 (Game 1)

Game 1 (TB-CLE): 12:07 pm. ET on ESPN 

Game 1 (PHI-STL): 2:07 p.m. ET on ABC

Game 1 (SEA-TOR): 4:07 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 1 (SD-NYM): 8:07 p.m. ET on ESPN

Saturday, Oct. 8 (Game 2)

Game 2 (TB-CLE): 12:07 pm. ET on ESPN2

Game 2 (SEA-TOR): 4:07 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 2 (SD-NYM): 7:37 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 2 (PHI-STL): 8:37 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Sunday, Oct. 9 (Game 3, if necessary)

Game 3 (SEA-TOR): 2:07 pm. ET on ABC

Game 3 (TB-CLE): 4:07 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 3 (SD-NYM): 7:37 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 3 (PHI-STL): 8:37 p.m. ET on ESPN2