Kamil Krzaczynski/Associated Press The National League regular season has been extended by a day, and baseball fans could not be more excited by the development. Fans will be treated to two tiebreaaker games because the National League Central and West Division titles have not been decided after the 162-game championship season. The Milwaukee Brewers (95-67) and Chicago Cubs (95-67) will meet Monday at 1 p.m. ET to decide the Central Division crown. The Cubs will host the game at Wrigley Field and will be televised by ESPN. Jhoulys Chacin is the likely starter for the bullpen-dependent Brewers, while Jose Quintana gets the start for the Cubs. The Colorado Rockies (91-71) and Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71) will play at Dodger Stadium and that game will also be televised by ESPN at 4 p.m. German Marquez will start for the Rockies and Walker Buehler will get the ball for the Dodgers. "Our goal is to win the division," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "With Walker rested, having an extra day—right now, he's our best. To win this game, to win the division—it's in our hands." All four teams recorded sizable victories on Sunday to force the double-tiebreaker scenario. The winner of the Brewers-Cubs showdown will earn the No. 1 seed in the National League playoffs, while the winner of the Rockies-Dodgers tiebreaker will have the No. 2 seed and have homefield advantage over the NL East champion Atlanta Braves in the Division series. Video Play Button Videos you might like The two losers of Monday's showdown games will meet in the NL wild-card game Tuesday, and the NL Central representative will host their opponent from the NL West in that one-game playoff. The winner of that wild-card game will face the NL Central winner in the other divisional series. Postseason Schedule National League Tiebreakers Monday, October 1, Brewers at Cubs, 1:05 ET, ESPN Monday, October 1, Rockies at Dodgers, 4:09 p.m. ET, ESPN Wild-Card Games Tuesday, October 2, NL West loser at NL Central loser, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN Wednesday, October 3, A's at Yankees, 8 p.m. ET, TBS Division Series NLDS Thursday, October 4, NLDS A, Game 1, FS1 or MLBN Thursday, October 4, NLDS B, Game 1, FS1 or MLBN Friday, October 5 NLDS A, Game 2, FS1 or MLBN Friday, October 5, NLDS B, Game 2, FS1 or MLBN Sunday, October 7, NLDS A, Game 3, FS1 or MLBN Sunday, October 7, NLDS B, Game 3, FS1 or MLBN Monday, October 8, NLDS A, Game 4*, FS1 Monday, October 8, NLDS B, Game 4*, FS,1 Wednesday, October 10, NLDS A, Game 5*, FS1 Wednesday, October 10, NLDS B, Game 5*, 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 The two tiebreakers and all postseason games can be live-streamed at MLB.TV. The American League did not have any of the end-of-season drama that took place in the NL. Even though the New York Yankees won 100 games, they finished a distant second to the Boston Red Sox in the American League East and they will host the American League wild-card game against the Oakland A's Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m., and the game will be televised by TBS. The winner of that game will face the Red Sox in the Division Series, and that series will get underway Friday at Fenway Park. The other American League Division series features the Cleveland Indians and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros. The Astros have homefield advantage and that series will start Friday in Houston. The Red Sox, who finished the regular season with a 108-54 record, will have homefield advantage throughout the postseason.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>
The Atlanta Braves were the first National League team to punch their ticket to the postseason, but they will have to open their National League Division Series on the road. The Braves will start the first round of the playoffs on Thursday, Oct. 4 in Los Angeles against the NL West-champion Dodgers. Atlanta’s impressive array of young talent accelerated their rebuild process, led by 20-year-old superstar Ronald Acuña Jr., who hit .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs in only 111 games in his first taste of the big leagues. The Braves won the NL East going away, but finished with 90 wins, one fewer than the Dodgers had before beating the Colorado Rockies in the NL West tiebreaker on Monday afternoon. This is the sixth straight NL West title for the Dodgers, the third longest streak since divisional play began in 1969, trailing only the 11 straight by the Braves (1995-2005) and nine consecutive by the Yankees (1998-2006). The Dodgers won five of their seven games against the Braves during the regular season, including two of three in Los Angeles in June and three of four in Atlanta in July. The NLDS begins Thursday, Oct. 4 in Dodger Stadium. Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS schedule Game Date Location Time TV Game Date Location Time TV 1 Thu, Oct 4 Dodger Stadium 8:37 p.m. MLBN 2 Fri, Oct 5 Dodger Stadium 9:37 p.m. FS1 3 Sun, Oct 7 SunTrust Park 8:07 p.m. FS1 4* Mon, Oct 8 SunTrust Park 4:30 p.m. FS1 5* Wed, Oct 10 Dodger Stadium 8:07 p.m. FS1 The NL Division Series will be televised on either Fox Sports 1 or MLB Network.