Ten teams, battling for as many as 30 days, to determine one champion.
The 2016 MLB playoffs are here, starting with 10 teams vying for World Series supremacy, and now down to five. There is guaranteed to be a new champion this year, with the Kansas City Royals missing the playoffs after two straight trips to the Fall Classic and a title in 2015.
Plenty of stories abound with the teams that did make it to the postseason this year, led by the juggernaut Chicago Cubs, a 103-win superteam trying for their first World Series trip since 1945. The Cubs lost to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series in 2015, but are favored to win the World Series this year.
But the New York Mets couldn't give the Cubs a playoff rematch, instead falling at home to the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card Game, behind a shutout from Madison Bumgarner and a three-run home run in the ninth inning by Conor Gillaspie. The Cubs were tested by the Giants, but ultimately dispatched San Francisco in four games in the NLDS, ending the Giants' even-year championship run.
The Washington Nationals are back in the postseason after a disappointing 2015 campaign, but they fell in the NLDS to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who overcame 28 different players making trips to the disabled list to win their fourth consecutive National League West crown.
The American League East was well represented in October, with both Wild Card teams coming from the division. Both the Blue Jays and Orioles won 89 games in 2016, and needed extra innings to decide the AL Wild Card Game in Toronto with Edwin Encarnacion hitting a three-run home run to send Jays fans home happy. Toronto then met the Texas Rangers in the ALDS for a second straight year, with the same result, only this time in three games, a Blue Jays sweep.
David Ortiz hit .315/.401/.620 with 38 home runs and 48 doubles in the greatest farewell season in baseball history, but couldn't lead the Red Sox past the Indians. Cleveland completed a three-game sweep of Boston with a 4-3 win on Monday thanks to a clutch home run from Coco Crisp.
The winner of the American League Championship Series gives us a World Series trip for the first time in two decades, with the Indians last playing in the Fall Classic in 1997 and the Blue Jays last reaching the World Series in 1993.
Over a span of 30 days there could be as many as 43 postseason games. The games will be televised by a myriad of networks, including ESPN, MLB Network, TBS, Fox Sports 1, and Fox.
Teams
Boston Red Sox (93-69), AL East winner
Cleveland Indians (94-67), AL Central winner
Texas Rangers (95-67), AL West winner
Toronto Blue Jays (89-73), AL Wild Card
Baltimore Orioles (89-73), AL Wild Card
Chicago Cubs (103-58), NL Central winner
Washington Nationals (95-67), NL East winner
Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71), NL West winner
New York Mets (87-75), NL Wild Card
San Francisco Giants (87-75), NL Wild Card
Bracket
(Source: MLB.com)
Schedule and results
(All times ET)
*if necessary
Wild Card Games
Tuesday, Oct. 4
American League Wild Card Game: Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2 (recap)
Wednesday, Oct. 5
National League Wild Card Game: Giants 3, Mets 0 (recap)
Division Series
Thursday, Oct. 6
ALDS Game 1: Blue Jays 10, Rangers 1 (recap)
ALDS Game 1: Indians 5, Red Sox 4 (recap)
Friday, Oct. 7
ALDS Game 2: Blue Jays 5, Rangers 3 (recap)
ALDS Game 2: Indians 6, Red Sox 0 (recap)
NLDS Game 1: Dodgers 4, Nationals 3 (recap)
NLDS Game 1: Cubs 1, Giants 0 (recap)
Saturday, Oct. 8
NLDS Game 2: Dodgers at Nationals, postponed by rain
NLDS Game 2: Cubs 5, Giants 2 (recap)
Sunday, Oct. 9
NLDS Game 2: Nationals 5, Dodgers 2 (recap)
ALDS Game 3: Indians at Red Sox, postponed by rain
ALDS Game 3: Blue Jays 7, Rangers 6, 10 innings (recap)
Monday, Oct. 10
NLDS Game 3: Nationals 8, Dodgers 3 (recap)
ALDS Game 3: Indians 4, Red Sox 3 (recap)
NLDS Game 3: Giants 6, Cubs 5, 13 innings (recap)
Tuesday, Oct. 11
NLDS Game 4: Dodgers 6, Nationals 5 (recap)
NLDS Game 4: Cubs 6, Giants 5 (recap)
Thursday, Oct. 13
NLDS Game 5: Dodgers 4, Nationals 3 (recap)
Championship Series
Friday, Oct. 14
ALCS Game 1: Blue Jays at Indians, 8:08 p.m. (TBS)
Saturday, Oct. 15
ALCS Game 2: Blue Jays at Indians, 4:08 p.m. (TBS)
NLCS Game 1: Dodgers at Cubs, 8:08 p.m. (FS1)
Sunday, Oct. 16
NLCS Game 2: Dodgers at Cubs, 8:08 p.m. (FS1)
Monday, Oct. 17
ALCS Game 3: Indians at Blue Jays, 8:08 p.m. (TBS)
Tuesday, Oct. 18
ALCS Game 4: Indians at Blue Jays, 4:08 p.m. (TBS)
NLCS Game 3: Cubs at Dodgers, 8:08 p.m. (FS1)
Wednesday, Oct. 19
ALCS Game 5*: Indians at Blue Jays, 4:08 p.m. (TBS)
NLCS Game 4: Cubs at Dodgers, 8:08 p.m. (FS1)
Thursday, Oct. 20
NLCS Game 5*: Cubs at Dodgers, 8:08 p.m. (FS1)
Friday, Oct. 21
ALCS Game 6*: Blue Jays at Indians, 8:08 p.m. (TBS)
Saturday, Oct. 22
NLCS Game 6*: Dodgers at Cubs (Fox or FS1)
ALCS Game 7*: Blue Jays at Indians (TBS)
Sunday, Oct. 23
NLCS Game 7*: Dodgers at Cubs (Fox or FS1)
112th World Series
Tuesday, Oct. 25
World Series Game 1: National League at American League (Fox)
Wednesday, Oct. 26
World Series Game 2: National League at American League (Fox)
Friday, Oct. 28
World Series Game 3: American League at National League (Fox)
Saturday, Oct. 29
World Series Game 4: American League at National League (Fox)
Sunday, Oct. 30
World Series Game 5*: American League at National League (Fox)
Tuesday, Nov. 1
World Series Game 6*: National League at American League (Fox)
Wednesday, Nov. 2
World Series Game 7*: National League at American League (Fox)
Vin Scully's huge calls through the decades