David Banks/Associated Press After the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers won tiebreaker games to win National League Central and West Divisions, respectively, the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago Cubs got the postseason started in record-setting fashion. The two teams battled for 13 innings—the longest win-or-go-home game in Major League Baseball postseason history—before the Rockies advanced to the Divisional Series with a 2-1 victory. Backup catcher Tony Wolters drove home the winning run when he singled with two out in the top of the 13th off of Kyle Hendricks. The Cubs were unable to rally in the bottom of the inning and they were eliminated on their home field. The Rockies will meet the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Divisional Series and they will be joined by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. The Brewers and Dodgers will have homefield advantage in those best-of-5 series. Postseason Schedule Video Play Button Videos you might like Wild-Card Games Wednesday, October 3, A's at Yankees, 8 p.m. ET, TBS Division Series NLDS Thurs., Oct. 4, Game 1, Rockies at Brewers, 5:07 p.m., ET FS1 Thurs., Oct. 4, Game 1, Braves at Dodgers, 8:37 p.m. ET, MLBN Fri., Oct. 5, Game 2, Rockies at Brewers, 4:15 p.m. ET, FS1 Fri., Oct. 5, Game 2, Braves at Dodgers, 9:37 p.m. ET, FS1 Sun., Oct. 7, Game 3, Brewers at Rockies, 4:37 p.m. ET, MLBN Sun., Oct. 7, Game 3, Dodgers at Braves, 8:07 p.m. ET, FS1 Mon., Oct. 8, Game 4*, Brewers at Rockies, FS1 Mon., Oct. 8, Game 4*, Dodgers at Braves, FS1 Wed., Oct. 10, Game 5*, Rockies at Brewers FS1 Wed., Oct. 10, Game 5*, Braves at Dodgers, FS1 *If necessary ALDS Friday, October 5, Yankees/A's at Red Sox, Game 1, TBS Friday, October 5, Indians at Astros, Game 1, TBS Saturday, October 6 Yankees/A's at Red Sox, Game 2, TBS Saturday, October 6, Indians at Astros, Game 2, TBS Monday, October 8, Red Sox at Yankees/A's, Game 3, TBS Monday, October 8, Astros at Indians, Game 3, TBS Tuesday, October 9, Red Sox at Yankees/A's, Game 4*, TBS Tuesday, October 9, Astros at Indians, Game 4*, TBS Thursday, October 11, Yankees/A's at Red Sox, Game 5*, TBS Thursday, October 11, Indians at Astros, Game 5*, TBS *If necessary League Championship Series NLCS Friday, October 12, Game 1, FOX or FS1 Saturday, October 13, Game 2, FOX or FS1 Monday, October 15, Game 3, FOX or FS1 Tuesday, October 16, Game 4, FOX or FS1 Wednesday, October 17, Game 5*, FOX or FS1 Friday, October 19, Game 6*, FOX or FS1 Saturday, October 20, Game 7*, FOX or FS1 *If necessary ALCS Saturday, October 13, Game 1, TBS Sunday, October 14, Game 2, TBS Tuesday, October 16, Game 3, TBS Wednesday, October 17, Game 4, TBS Thursday, October 18, Game 5*, TBS Saturday, October 20, Game 6*, TBS Sunday, October 21, Game 7*, TBS *If necessary WORLD SERIES Tuesday, October 23, Game 1, FOX Wednesday, October 24, Game 2, FOX Friday, October 26, Game 3 , FOX Saturday, October 27, Game 4, FOX Sunday, October 28, Game 5*, FOX Tuesday, October 30 Game 6*, FOX Wednesday, October 31 Game 7*, FOX All games can be live streamed on MLB.TV. The American League postseason gets underway Wednesday night as the New York Yankees host the Oakland A's in the wild-card game. The slugging Yankees, who won 100 games this season but still finished eight games behind the Boston Red Sox, and the powerful A's will play for the right to meet the Red Sox in the American League Division Series. The Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros, who represented the American League in the last two World Series, will meet in the other ALDS. After the four division series are completed, the two American League winners will meet in the ALCS, while the two National League survivors will play for the NL pennant. Both league championship series are best-of-7 formats, as is the World Series. The Boston Red Sox will have homefield advantage throughout the postseason, while the Milwaukee Brewers will have that advantage in the National League playoffs. Predictions AL Wild-Card New York Yankees over Oakland A's ALDS Boston Red Sox over New York Yankees, 3-1 Cleveland Indians over Houston Astros, 3-2 ALCS Boston Red Sox over Cleveland Indians, 4-2 NLDS Milwaukee Brewers over Colorado Rockies, 3-2 Atlanta Braves over Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 NLCS Milwaukee Brewers over Atlanta Braves, 4-2 World Series Boston Red Sox over Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 While they won 108 games during the regular season, the Red Sox fattened up on some of the worst teams in the American League. Many observers don't see the Red Sox winning their fourth World Series since 2004. There are key issues, including ace starter Chris Sale's balky left shoulder and the Red Sox vulnerability in the bullpen. However, the starting lineup has the ability to produce consistently and they have a couple of big-time producers in Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. The belief here is that Sale will have enough to get through six innings in each of his postseason starts and manager Alex Cora will manipulate the bullpen so that it will survive until closer Craig Kimbrel can take over. The Red Sox will celebrate at Fenway Park, breaking hearts throughout Wisconsin as the Brewers fall just a bit short.<doc-sep>Major League Baseball will stage two games on Monday that defy classification. Officially, they will count as regular-season games. At stake will be the championships of the National League Central and West divisions, so they could be called one-game playoffs. Yet how can they really be one-game playoffs if none of the teams face elimination? All 10 teams in the 2018 postseason field had been determined before the final Sunday of the regular season. But because N.L. Central and West featured ties at the top — the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers in the Central, and the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the West — there was lots to be decided. Status quo would set up a chaotic Monday, and that is just what happened. The Cubs, Brewers, Rockies and Dodgers all won easily, meaning that the division rivals will meet on Monday to settle the standings. The Brewers visit Wrigley Field in Chicago at 1:09 p.m. Eastern, and the Rockies play at Dodger Stadium three hours later. The winners of those games will advance to the N.L. division series, which start on Thursday, and the losers will meet in the N.L. wild card game on Tuesday. The winner in Chicago will hold the top seed and home-field advantage in the N.L. playoffs, while the loser will host the wild-card game. The winner in Los Angeles will be the No. 2 seed and play the N.L. East champion Atlanta Braves in the division series.<doc-sep>The 2018 Major League Baseball regular season lasted a little longer than expected, as 162 games weren’t enough to sort out the National League playoff picture. The Chicago Cubs hosted the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the Colorado Rockies on Monday in a pair of tiebreaker games to determine the NL Central champion and the NL West champion. The losers square off in the NL Wild Card Game on Tuesday. While it’s hard to complain about the intensity that comes with such matchups, former major leaguer Kevin Youkilis, who spent parts of nine seasons with the Boston Red Sox (2004-12), took to Twitter on Monday afternoon to express some disappointment with the current MLB playoff format. Here’s his suggestion for how things should go: The @MLB season of 162 games should define who are the top seeds 1-5. The top 3 overall best records in AL & NL should be in automatically. Eliminate division winners and reward best overall records for the crazy grind of a baseball season. #JustAnOpinion #LoveOctoberBaseball — Kevin Youkilis (@GreekGodOfHops) October 1, 2018 You see, the Atlanta Braves didn’t need to play Monday because they already clinched the NL East, winning the division by eight games over the second-place Washington Nationals. But the Braves totaled 90 wins in their 162 regular-season games — less than each of the four teams that played Monday in the hopes of securing a spot in the NL Division Series. Meanwhile, in the American League, the New York Yankees will host the Oakland Athletics in the Wild Card Game on Wednesday to determine who faces the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. But the Yankees (100) and A’s (97) both have more wins than the Cleveland Indians (91), who already secured a date with the Houston Astros in the ALDS by virtue of winning the terrible AL Central. The implementation of a second wild card spot was geared toward incentivizing winning the division. The drawback, however, is when a team leading a weaker division coasts to the playoffs while other, arguably better clubs are pushed to the brink of elimination because they happen to share a division with more formidable opponents. Thumbnail photo via Patrick Gorski/USA TODAY Sports Images<doc-sep>The Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, each with lopsided victories Sunday, will play a tiebreaker game Monday to determine the winner of the NL Central. The winner gets home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs, and won’t have to play again until Thursday. This year marks the first time in baseball history two divisions will be determined by one-game playoff. And it’s the first time since MLB went to a two-wild card format in 2012 that a division winner was determined by playoff. Breaking down the one-game playoff between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs: For starters Brewers (Jhoulys Chacin, 15-8, 3.56 ERA) vs. Cubs (Jose Quintana, 13-11, 4.09 ERA), 1:05 ET, ESPN. The winner will play host to the wild-card game winner in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Thursday. The loser plays host to either the Dodgers or Rockies in Tuesday's NL wild card game. 27 outs It's familiar dominance vs. the unknown. And there's no telling who might have the edge. In starting Quintana, the Cubs are handing the ball to a lefty who's posted a 2.17 ERA over 37 1/3 innings against the Brewers this season. Most notably, he's been the starting pitcher in three of the six shutouts Chicago posted against them this season. At Wrigley Field this season, Quintana has been a little less sharp, producing a 4.28 ERA and giving up 15 homers, compared to 3.94 and 10 on the road. As for the Brewers? Perhaps it was just gamesmanship that manager Craig Counsell opted not to name his starting pitcher on Sunday – waiting until Monday morning. Jhoulys Chacin, who made an NL-high 34 starts, won 15 games and posted a 3.56 ERA, will take the ball. But the one-game playoff format is ripe for experimentation, and Counsell has significant options. In a crucial game against St. Louis last week, Counsell went the "extreme opener" route, starting lefty reliever Dan Jennings, who retired Matt Carpenter and then hit the showers. A parade of eight more relievers followed and the Brewers gutted out a 6-4 win. It should be noted that Monday's game is a regular season game and both teams will have all the spoils of the expanded September roster. What's more, Counsell was able to avoid his three top relievers in Sunday's 11-0 rout of the Detroit Tigers to keep their division title hopes alive. Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress and Corey Knebel are rested and ready, Hader presumably for a two-inning stint. Looking at the playoff big picture, Counsell could have rolled the dice, held Chacin back for a potential NLDS Game 1 start and see if a conga line of fireballers alone could win this one. The risk-reward of that strategy is significant, however: Burn up the bullpen Monday and lose, and suddenly you're faced with a one-game wild card knockout game with a compromised staff. Keep an eye on... Christian Yelich. Who else? He somehow turned a tight NL MVP race into a runaway in just one week, thanks to stretches like this: In his final 11 games, Yelich produced a .462/.611/1.154 line, with six homers and 20 RBI while twice hitting for the cycle. The Cubs can take mild comfort in the fact Quintana has held Yelich to just one hit in 11 at-bats. Yet, Yelich is so hot that it's safe to say he affects the Cubs' plans once they've confirmed he didn't miss the bus down from Milwaukee. Close and late You're up to date on the Brewers' pitching options as the game progresses; the Cubs' options are, shall we say, not so rosy. Closer Brandon Morrow is out for the year, his top replacement, Pedro Strop, is not yet recovered from a hamstring injury and manager Joe Maddon's circle of trust is far less defined than he'd prefer it be this time of year. The Cubs needed nine pitchers to secure a 10-5 win over the Cardinals on Sunday, and the performances were uneven. Carl Edwards Jr. induced a double-play ball, but also allowed two inherited runners to score. July acquisition Brandon Kintzler got two outs but gave up three hits. In short? Quintana, who has pitched just five innings in six of his last nine starts, might need to go long to limit the Cubs' late-inning liability. In the end It's been a weird year for the Cubs, beset by pitching woes early and injuries often, and then a September slump that came amid a stretch of 30 consecutive days without a game scheduled. At times it felt like they were ripe to be run down and thanks to a 19-7 September, the Brewers did just that. Milwaukee is hot, aligned well for Monday and, possibly, just plain better than the Cubs. Not to worry: There's at least a 50% chance these teams meet again in the Division Series. The feeling here is Game 1 of that NLDS would come at Miller Park. Brewers 6, Cubs 2.<doc-sep>
Frank Franklin II/Associated Press The 2018 MLB season will stretch into a Game 163 for four teams, as the NL Central and NL West division titles are still undecided after Sunday's action. While the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies will all take the field on Monday and look to avoid having to play in the NL Wild Card Game, it's not too early to start looking ahead to Tuesday when the postseason begins in earnest. What follows is a breakdown of everything you need to know about how the Wild Card Game and Division Series rounds are formatted. Wild-Card Format Five teams from each league qualify for the postseason—the three division winners and then the two teams with the best records who failed to win their division. The division winners automatically advance to the Division Series, where they are joined by the victor of a one-game playoff between the two wild-card teams that essentially serves as a play-in game. Video Play Button Videos you might like The winners of each Wild Card Game match up with the team that had the best record in their league, so the AL winner will take on the Boston Red Sox, while the NL winner will play whoever winds up winning the NL Central. While we're still waiting on the NL side of things to be sorted out, the American League matchup for the Wild Card Game is already set. The New York Yankees (100-62) will host the Oakland Athletics (97-65) on Wednesday night. Reliever Lou Trivino served as the "opener" for Mike Fiers on Friday, and that's how Oakland could start the Wild Card Game. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images "We're not ruling anything out," manager Bob Melvin told reporters when asked if Fiers could follow an "opener" in the Wild Card game. "I'm not saying that’s the route we're going, but we want to make sure to look at every potential avenue." Liam Hendriks has also started eight games this season in the "opener" role and would be a candidate to pitch the first inning ahead of Fiers. Meanwhile, Yankees manager Aaron Boone still needs to choose from the trio of J.A. Happ, Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino for his starter in the winner-take-all game. "We had a lot of men on it last night," Boone told reporters of the starter decision. [GM Brian Cashman] and the coaching staff and the support staff really dove into it. We're closer to that decision. I don't have it for you today, but in my mind, I'm getting a lot closer to which way I want to go." As we've already mentioned, the National League side is still up in the air. All we know right now is that the losers of Monday's games will meet on Tuesday in the Wild Card Game. Division-Series Format The Divison Series is played under a best-of-five format, with the higher-seeded team hosting Games 1, 2 and 5, if necessary. With two travel days sprinkled into the five-game series, teams often face tough decisions on whether to go with a No. 4 starter or bring back an ace on short rest. In the AL, the Boston Red Sox (108-54) will host the Wild Card Game winner, and the Houston Astros (103-59) will host the Cleveland Indians (91-71). Again, things are still cloudy on the NL side. The NL Central division champ will host the Wild Card Game winner, while the NL West champ will host the Atlanta Braves (90-72) which are the only team to have locked down a division title to this point. We've seen time and again that once you punch your ticket to the postseason, anything can happen in October. The Red Sox and Astros look like the heavy favorites at the onset, but the same was said of the Indians last season, and they failed to advance beyond the Division Series. One thing is for sure: There's plenty more excitement to be had before the 2018 season comes to a close.