ALCS & NLCS 2026 — Championship Series Matchups, Schedule, and Who NUT Favors
Series scores below are as of Monday morning, October 12. For live scores as the games are played, see the live 2026 playoff bracket.
The 2026 League Championship Series has four clubs left: the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS, and the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. All four are the top two seeds in their league.
Milwaukee won NLCS Game 1, 2-1, on Sunday. The ALCS opens Monday night. Each series is best of seven, and the winners meet in the World Series.
Below: the full schedule, both series by regular-season NUT Score, each club’s top hitter and pitcher by NUT, and who is producing this October.
ALCS & NLCS 2026 Schedule
The higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, 6, and 7. Games marked “if needed” are played only if neither club has four wins. All times Eastern.
Both Series by NUT
NUT values are full regular season. The NUT edge is the gap between the two clubs’ season totals. Top bat and top arm are each club’s best hitter and pitcher by season NUT.
Dodgers at Brewers. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in MLB by season NUT, 1.0 apart. Only one series this postseason has been closer: Yankees vs. Red Sox in the Wild Card round, at 0.8.
Los Angeles is the only S-grade club in the majors, with +9.0 hitting and +8.8 pitching. Milwaukee’s +9.9 pitching is the stronger staff, and its starter Jacob Misiorowski is the No. 1 pitcher in MLB by NUT. He held the Dodgers to one run in 4.1 innings in Game 1.
Game 2 matches Yoshinobu Yamamoto (+1.8 · A) against Logan Henderson (+1.0 · B). Its +25.5 matchup NUT is the highest of the day. The two lineups are 0.1 apart: +10.7 for Los Angeles, +10.6 for Milwaukee.
Guardians at Rays. The two staffs are 0.3 apart: +6.6 pitching for Tampa Bay, +6.3 for Cleveland. The edge is the offense. Tampa Bay’s +2.1 hitting against Cleveland’s -2.3 accounts for 4.4 of the 4.8-point gap.
Tampa Bay swept the Yankees 3-0 despite a 3.6-point NUT deficit. Cleveland beat the White Sox in five, behind Gavin Williams and his 24 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.
Game 1 matches Foster Griffin (+0.4 · C) against Drew Rasmussen (+2.7 · A), the No. 8 pitcher in MLB by NUT. Matchup NUT: +17.4.
Where the NUT Favorites Stand
5-3 in completed series. The club with the higher season NUT went 2-2 in the Wild Card round and 3-1 in the Division Series. The Yankees were the one Division Series favorite to fall.
Championship Series: the Dodgers trail as the NLCS favorite, and the Rays open as the ALCS favorite.
Who Is Producing This October
Season NUT tells you what a club was. The Postseason NUT leaders board ranks every player by postseason production only, on a scale built for October: a full postseason tops out near +1.0 NUT for a player. These are the top-five postseason performers still playing.
Every game has a live page with pitch-by-pitch at-bats and each player’s game NUT as it happens. Today’s games →
Quick Answers
When does the 2026 ALCS start?
Monday, October 12, with Guardians at Rays at 8:00 PM Eastern. The NLCS started a day earlier, on Sunday, October 11.
How many games is the ALCS and NLCS?
Best of seven. The first club to four wins goes to the World Series. The higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, 6, and 7.
Who is playing in the 2026 ALCS and NLCS?
ALCS: Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays. NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers.
Who does NUT favor?
Tampa Bay in the ALCS, by 4.8 points of season NUT. Los Angeles in the NLCS, by 1.0 — the No. 1 team in MLB against the No. 2.