MLB Wild Card Series 2026 — Schedule, Matchups, and Who NUT Favors
The field is set. For live series scores as the games are played, see the live 2026 playoff bracket.
The 2026 MLB Wild Card Series starts Tuesday, September 29. Four best-of-three series, eight teams, and the higher seed hosts every game. Four more teams — the top two seeds in each league — wait in the Division Series, which opens October 3.
Below is every matchup with seeds, final records, and each team’s season NUT Score, the total production its hitters and pitchers generated against league average, split into hitting and pitching. In three of the four series, the road team has the higher NUT.
2026 Wild Card Series Schedule
All four series play the same time slots each day. Game 3 is played only if a series is tied 1‑1. All times Eastern.
The Four Matchups by NUT
NUT values are full regular season. The NUT edge is the gap between the two teams’ season totals.
White Sox at Astros. Houston won the AL West at 81-81 and hosts a White Sox team three games better. Both clubs are below average by NUT, and both are built the same way: a bat slightly above average, a pitching staff below it. Houston’s -4.0 on the mound is the worst of the eight wild card teams except the Cubs.
Red Sox at Yankees. The closest series of the round. New York has the best pitching NUT in baseball at +6.9 and Boston has the second best at +6.7, so the top two staffs in the majors meet in the first round. The hitting totals are nearly identical too, +2.7 and +2.4. Both teams are A grades, 4th and 5th in MLB, and one of them is out by October 1.
Phillies at Braves. Atlanta won the NL East by six games, 94-68 to 88-74, but Philadelphia finished two spots higher by NUT. The two teams are mirror images: Atlanta’s production comes from its lineup (+4.0 hitting, +1.5 pitching), Philadelphia’s from its staff (+1.2 hitting, +5.4 pitching).
Cubs at Padres. The biggest mismatch of the round, and it runs against the seeding. San Diego is 91-71 on a -1.1 NUT that ranks 17th. Chicago has the best offense in baseball at +11.8 hitting NUT, 1.9 ahead of the Dodgers, carrying a -4.7 pitching staff. The Cubs are the most lopsided team in the field; the Padres are within 1.3 of average on both sides.
Biggest Mismatch and Closest Series
Biggest mismatch: Cubs over Padres, +8.2. No other series has a gap above 1.6. Chicago ranks 6th in MLB by NUT, San Diego 17th.
Closest series: Yankees over Red Sox, +0.5. Two A grades separated by one spot in the NUT rankings and 0.2 in pitching NUT.
Road teams with the edge: 3 of 4. The White Sox, Phillies, and Cubs all out-produced the team hosting them. The Yankees are the only home team with the higher NUT.
The Bye Teams
The top two seeds in each league skip the wild card round and host the winners in the Division Series.
1. Tampa Bay Rays · 98-64 · +5.5 NUT · B · #8 in MLB. Hosts the Yankees or Red Sox, both of which finished with more NUT than the Rays.
2. Cleveland Guardians · 85-77 · +0.2 NUT · C · #13 in MLB. Hosts the White Sox or Astros. Cleveland rests on a +0.2 while an A-grade team from the Yankees–Red Sox series is eliminated.
1. Milwaukee Brewers · 103-59 · +13.7 NUT · A · #2 in MLB. Best record in baseball. Hosts the Cubs or Padres.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers · 100-62 · +15.3 NUT · S · #1 in MLB. The only S-grade team in the majors, with the second-best offense (+9.9) and fourth-best staff (+5.5). Hosts the Phillies or Braves.
Who Is Producing This October
Season NUT tells you what a team was. Once the games start, the Postseason NUT leaders board ranks every hitter and pitcher by postseason production only, updated after each game. Every wild card game also has its own scoreboard card and live game page with pitch-by-pitch play.
Quick Answers
When does the 2026 MLB Wild Card Series start?
Tuesday, September 29, with Game 1 of all four series. Game 2 is September 30 and Game 3, if needed, is October 1.
Who plays in the 2026 wild card round?
American League: White Sox at Astros and Red Sox at Yankees. National League: Phillies at Braves and Cubs at Padres.
How many games is a wild card series?
Best of three. The higher seed hosts all three games, so the first team to two wins advances.
Which teams have a first-round bye?
Tampa Bay and Cleveland in the American League, Milwaukee and Los Angeles in the National League. They open the Division Series on October 3.