Baseball fans who enjoy upsets must be loving Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason this year.
Three of the four teams to reach the American League or National League Championships Series (ALCS/NLCS) beat a higher-seeded team to get there. The Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Baltimore Orioles were the three teams to cross the 100-win milestone in the regular season. But those three clubs went a combined 1-9 in the postseason and we'll all be watching the NLCS and ALCS from home.
The Dodgers and Orioles were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers, respectively, in the division round. And the Philadelphia Phillies secured their advancement on Thursday night by handing the NL top-seeded, 104-win Braves a 3-1 divisional series defeat.
With Philadelphia's win, the next round of MLB's postseason is set. Either the Phillies or Diamondbacks will represent the National League in the World Series, while the Rangers or Houston Astros will win the American League pennant.
Here's what baseball fans need to know before the next round of playoffs.
Updated MLB 2023 Postseason Bracket
And then there were four.
Eight of the 12 teams in this year's MLB postseason have been eliminated. Two Wild Card teams remain in the National League—the No. 4 seed Phillies and No. 6 seed Diamondbacks. The No. 2 seed Astros won the AL West over the No. 5 seed Rangers on the final day of the regular season, but both division rivals made it to the ALCS.
Here's where the postseason bracket stands heading into the championship series.
Who still has a perfect bracket? pic.twitter.com/8HatWCMM13
— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2023
Matchups for Championship Series
Rangers vs. Astros: The Astros defeated the Minnesota Twins in four games to advance to its seventh consecutive ALCS. Houston, the defending champion, is seeking its fifth World Series appearance since 2017.
And the other team in this all-Texas ALCS might be the hottest in all of baseball. The Rangers are 5-0 so far this postseason and have outscored the Tampa Bay Rays and Orioles 32-12 across the first two rounds. The Rangers are seeking its first World Series win and first appearance in the Fall Classic since making consecutive trips, and losing both times, in 2010 and 2011.
Diamondbacks vs. Phillies: The Phillies knocked out the division-champion Braves in the NLDS for the second consecutive season behind some tell-timed playoff heroics from Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, and just about everybody else. After beating the Braves last year, the Phillies went on to reach the World Series.
The Diamondbacks are standing in its way of accomplishing that again. The Astros, Rangers, and Phillies all finished the regular season with 90 wins. Arizona reached the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the NL after an 84-win season, but has since swept the NL Central-winning Milwaukee Brewers and NL West champion Dodgers to reach the championship series.
Schedule, How to Watch ALCS, NLCS
Both the ALCS and NLCS are best-of-seven series. Games 5 and beyond on both sides of the bracket will only be played if necessary. The higher-seeded teams will host the first two games of the series. The lower-seeded teams then get three consecutive games at home before home-field advantage flips back to the top seed for Games 6 and 7, if needed.
Game 1 of this year's ALCS will be played at 8:15 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Diamondbacks and Phillies will face off to start the NLCS at 8:07 p.m. ET the next day. NL games will be played on TBS, while AL games can be found on Fox/FS1.
Here's the full schedule for this round of the playoffs.
Sunday, October 15
ALCS Game 1: Rangers at Astros, 8:15 p.m. ET (Fox)
Monday, October 16
ALCS Game 2: Rangers at Astros, 4:37 p.m. ET (Fox/FS1)
NLCS Game 1: Diamondbacks at Phillies, 8:07 p.m. ET (TBS)
Tuesday, October 17
NLCS Game 2: Diamondbacks at Phillies, 8:07 p.m. ET (TBS)
Wednesday, October 18
ALCS Game 3: Astros at Rangers, 8:03 p.m. ET (FS1)
Thursday, October 19
NLCS Game 3: Phillies at Diamondbacks, 5:07 p.m. ET (TBS)
ALCS Game 4: Astros at Rangers, 8:03 p.m. ET (FS1)
Friday, October 20
ALCS Game 5: Astros at Rangers, 5:07 p.m. ET (FS1)
NLCS Game 4: Phillies at Diamondbacks, 8:07 p.m. ET (TBS)
Saturday, October 21
NLCS Game 5: Phillies at Diamondbacks, 8:07 p.m. ET (TBS)
Sunday, October 22
ALCS Game 6: Rangers at Astros, 8:07 p.m. ET (FS1)
Monday, October 23
NLCS Game 6: Diamondbacks at Phillies, 5:07 p.m. ET (TBS)
ALCS Game 7: Rangers at Astros, 8:03 p.m. ET (Fox/FS1)
Tuesday, October 24
NLCS Game 7: Diamondbacks at Phillies, 8:07 p.m. ET (TBS)
When Does the 2023 World Series Start?
The first pitch of the 2023 World Series will be thrown in Game 1 on October 27. The series will be played through November 4 if it goes to seven games. All World Series games will air on Fox.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Robert Read is a Sports Reporter at Newsweek based in Florida. He previously spent four years working at The Daily ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
