While America’s favorite pastime conjures up images of summer, hot dogs, and beer, the beginning of Major League Baseball postseason is, for many, a hallmark of the end of summer. And with the Chicago Cubs the leading favorites to win the World Series–for the first time in 108 years– the 2016 MLB playoffs will certainly be something to watch.
Honestly, if Tim Tebow can hit a homer in his first professional at-bat, the Cubs can win the World Series.
This year, postseason kicks off with the American League (AL) Wild Card Game on October 4th and the National League (NL) Wild Card Game on October 5th.
Tuesday’s AL Wild Card (ALWC) game will feature the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays in “The 6ix.” The two teams finished their regular season with twin 89-73 records, but the Blue Jays will host the Wild Card game because Toronto holds the tiebreaker (the Jays went 10-9 against Baltimore this year with a 6-4 record at home, outscoring the Orioles 97-81).
The Blue Jays are the favorites to win Tuesday night’s game. Despite the odds, the Orioles have history on their side: Five seasons ago, the Orioles played in the very first ALWC Game in which they beat the Texas Rangers 5-1 to advance to the American League Division Series.
Wednesday’s NL Wild Card game will feature the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets at Citi Field in Flushing, Queens.
The headliners will be Giants’ pitcher Madison Bumgarner and Mets’ pitcher Noah Syndergaard; the two finished fourth and third, respectively, in the majors in earned run average (ERA). The Mets have already fallen twice to Bumgarner this season, 6-1 in May at Citi Field and 10-7 in August making the Giants the favorites to win Wednesday night’s game.
What’s more, whoever advances from the Giants-Mets matchup will play the Chicago Cubs in the first National League Division Series game on Friday, October 7th.
The Cubs are probably hoping for a San Francisco victory, since they were 4-3 against the Giants this season and 2-5 against the Mets. The Mets also swept the Cubs in last year’s postseason game.
As for Wednesday’s game, since the tickets for the Mets-Giants game at Citi Field are averaging over a whopping $310– making it the most expensive wild-card game ever– you’re probably best off live streaming it, and the rest of MLB postseason. Well tell you how.
Here’s how to watch the MLB postseason games:
The first postseason game (AL Wild Card) will take place on October 4th, at 8 p.m. ET. and will air and live stream on TBS.
The National League Wild Card game will be played on October 5th, at 8 p.m. ET.
You can also find the full postseason schedule, along with the latest baseball news at MLB.com.
In order to watch the games online, fans can use the Fox Sports GO website (or app for mobile viewing), but access requires a valid login through a cable provider. Games are also available for streaming on TBS Sports and you can find other ways to watch without a cable login from Cut Cable Today.
If you really can’t wait for things to heat up in the postseason, catch some of the best moments of the 2016 regular season– along with videos– here.
And, just a reminder, the first game of the 2016 World Series is set for October 25th.
Important Dates:
October 4th- American League Wild Card Game
October 5th- National League Wild Card Game
October 6th– American League Division Series begins
October 7th- National League Division Series begins
October 14th- American League Championship Series begins
October 15th- National League Championship Series begins
October 25th- World Series begins