MLB Division Series 2026 — ALDS & NLDS Matchups, Schedule, and Who NUT Favors
Series scores below are as of Monday, October 5. For live scores as the games are played, see the live 2026 playoff bracket.
The 2026 Division Series is underway. It opened Saturday, October 3, with the four wild card winners — the White Sox, Yankees, Braves, and Padres — visiting the top two seeds in each league. Each series is best of five in a 2-2-1 format: the higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, and 5.
Below is every series with its current score, each club’s regular-season NUT Score split into hitting and pitching, and its top hitter and pitcher by NUT. The club with the higher season NUT leads one series, trails two, and is tied in the fourth.
Results So Far
Remaining Schedule
Games marked “if needed” are played only if neither club has reached three wins. All times Eastern.
The Four 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.
Yankees at Rays. Tampa Bay won Game 1, 1-0, and Game 2, 5-2. New York faces elimination in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. It is the lower seed with the higher NUT: its +6.9 pitching NUT is the best in baseball, more than double Tampa Bay’s +3.2. The two lineups are 0.4 apart. New York has the No. 3 hitter in MLB by NUT, Ben Rice, and the No. 2 pitcher, Cam Schlittler.
White Sox at Guardians. Chicago won both games in Cleveland, 3-0 and 4-3, and has won all four of its postseason games. The series moves to Rate Field on Wednesday. These are opposite builds: Cleveland’s +2.8 pitching carries a -2.6 offense, and Chicago’s +1.5 offense carries a -2.6 staff. Both clubs grade C, and Chicago is the lowest-NUT team still playing, tied with San Diego at -1.1.
Padres at Brewers. The biggest NUT gap of the 2026 postseason, and the series is following it so far, though both Milwaukee wins were by one run, 3-2 and 4-3. Milwaukee is above average on both sides (+7.6 hitting, +6.2 pitching) and has the No. 1 pitcher in MLB by NUT, Jacob Misiorowski. San Diego reached this round by sweeping the Cubs despite an 8.2 NUT gap against it.
Braves at Dodgers. Los Angeles won Game 1, 5-3, and Atlanta took Game 2, 3-2, to even the series before it moves to Truist Park. The Dodgers are the only S-grade club in the majors, with the second-best offense (+9.9) and the fourth-best staff (+5.5). Game 3 on Tuesday is scheduled to match Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Chris Sale, the No. 3 pitcher in MLB by NUT.
Where the NUT Favorites Stand
Wild card round: 2-2. The White Sox and Yankees advanced with the higher season NUT; the Braves and Padres advanced without it.
Division Series so far: Milwaukee leads as the favorite, Los Angeles is tied, and New York and Cleveland trail.
Biggest edge: Brewers over Padres, +14.8. Smallest: Guardians over White Sox, +1.3.
Who Is Producing This October
Season NUT tells you what a club was. The Postseason NUT leaders board ranks every hitter and pitcher by postseason production only, graded on a scale built for October: a full postseason tops out near +1.0 NUT for a player. Through Sunday’s games, Rice, Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, and Manny Machado led hitters at +0.3 (A), and Michael King, Sale, Schlittler, and Grant Taylor led pitchers at +0.3 (A).
Each club’s team page also shows its postseason status, next game, and postseason team NUT.
Quick Answers
When did the 2026 Division Series start?
Saturday, October 3, with Game 1 of all four series. The last possible games, both Game 5s of the ALDS, are Saturday, October 10.
How many games is a Division Series?
Best of five. The first club to three wins advances to its league championship series. The higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, and 5.
Who is playing in the 2026 ALDS and NLDS?
ALDS: Yankees vs. Rays and White Sox vs. Guardians. NLDS: Padres vs. Brewers and Braves vs. Dodgers.
Which team has the biggest NUT edge?
Milwaukee, at +13.7 season NUT against San Diego’s -1.1 — a 14.8 gap, the largest of any series this postseason.