Wild Card Series: Schedules and all possible scenarios

Mark your calendars! The race to crown the next World Series champion begins on Friday, with the start of the 2022 Postseason.

Major League Baseball announced the schedule for the first day of playoff action, which will include four games from the American League and National League Wild Card Series, presented by Hankook Tire, and will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC, ESPN 2 and the ESPN app.

The 2022 World Series, presented by Capital One, is scheduled to begin three weeks later, on Friday, October 28, broadcast on FOX.

All series will be available in the United States for MLB.TV, with authentication from a pay TV provider. The matches will not be available internationally in this way, but they can be seen approximately 90 minutes after the end of each of the matches.

This year’s postseason features a new formatexpanding the number of qualifying teams from 10 to 12, replacing the two Wild Card elimination games with best-of-three series leading up to the Division Series.

WILD CARD SERIES (EASTERN TIME IN THE UNITED STATES)

Friday October 7
Rays at Guardians, Game 1, 12:07 p.m., ESPN

Phillies at Cardinals, Game 1, 2:07 p.m., ABC

Mariners at Blue Jays, Game 1, 4:07 p.m., ESPN

Padres at Mets, Game 1, 8:07 p.m., ESPN

Saturday October 8
Rays at Guardians, Game 2, 12:07 p.m., ESPN2

Mariners at Blue Jays, Game 2, 4:07 p.m., ESPN

Padres at Mets, Game 2, 7:37 p.m., ESPN

Phillies at Cardinals, Game 2, 8:37 p.m., ESPN2

Sunday October 9
Mariners at Blue Jays, Game, 2:07 p.m., ABC (if necessary)

Rays at Guardians, Game, 4:07 p.m., ESPN (if needed)

Padres at Mets, Game, 7:37 p.m., ESPN (if needed)

Phillies at Cardinals, Game 3, 8:37 p.m., ESPN2 (if necessary)

THREE-GAME SCENARIOS FOR SUNDAY

1. If the series between Tampa Bay and Cleveland ended

a.) SEA @ TOR stays the same.

b.) SD @ NYM will be at 4:00 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN)

c.) PHI @ STL will be at 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 8:30 pm (ET) on ESPN2)

2. If the series between Seattle and Toronto endedthen there will be no changes to the calendar.

3. If the Philadelphia-St. Louis series endedthen there will be no changes to the calendar.

4. If the series between San Diego and New York ended:

a.) SEA @ TOR and TB @ CLE remain with the same hours.

b.) PHI @ STL will be at 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 8:30 pm (ET) on ESPN2)

TWO-GAMES SCENARIOS FOR SUNDAY

1. If the series between TB @ CLE and SEA @ TOR ended:

a.) SD @ NYM will be at 4:00 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN)

b.) PHI @ STL will be at 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 8:30 pm ET on ESPN2)

2. If the SEA @ TOR and SD @ NYM series ended:

a.) TB @ CLE will follow at 4:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

b.) PHI @ STL will be at 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 8:30 pm (ET) on ESPN2)

3. If the TB @ CLE and SD @ NYM series ended:

a.) SEA @ TOR will be at 4:00 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 2:00 pm (ET) on ABC)

b.) PHI @ STL will be at 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN2)

4. If the SD @ NYM and PHI @ STL series ended:

a.) SEA @ TOR will be at 4:00 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 2:00 pm (ET) on ABC)

b.) TB @ CLE will be at 7:30 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 4:00 pm (ET) on ESPN)

5. If the series of SEA @ TOR and PHI @ STL endedthen there will be no change to the TB @ CLE and SSA @ NYM schedules.

6. If the TB @ CLE and PHI @ STL series have ended:

a.) SEA @ TOR will be at 4:00 pm (ET) on ESPN (instead of 2:00 pm (ET) on ABC)

b.) SD @ NYM will follow at 7:30 pm (ET)

SCENARIO OF A GAME FOR SUNDAY

1. If there is only one game scheduled for Sunday, it will take place at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN.