Mets collapse opens door for surprise NL Wild Card race down the stretch
USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale breaks down the top storylines to watch in the NL as the MLB season winds down.
Sports Pulse
As Major League Baseball’s regular season winds down, postseason dreams are being realized.
But there is still a lot of sorting out to be done before the season ends on Sunday, Sept. 28. The Philadelphia Phillies are the only team that has clinched their division, and none of the six playoff berths in the American League have been claimed.
Here are all the MLB teams who have punched their ticket to the postseason, along with the magic numbers for teams to lock up a berth:
- Milwaukee Brewers – At least NL wild card
- Philadelphia Phillies – NL East division
- Chicago Cubs – NL wild card
- Los Angeles Dodgers – At least NL wild card
Numbers entering play Saturday, Sept. 20:
- Milwaukee Brewers: 3 to win NL Central
- Los Angeles Dodgers: 5 to win NL West
- Toronto Blue Jays: 5 to win AL East
- Detroit Tigers: 7 to win AL Central
- Seattle Mariners: 7 to win AL West
Numbers entering play Saturday, Sept. 20:
- Toronto Blue Jays: 2 to clinch at least AL wild card
- San Diego Padres: 4 to clinch at least NL wild card
- New York Yankees: 6 to clinch at least AL wild card
- Seattle Mariners: 6 to clinch at least AL wild card
- Boston Red Sox: 7 to clinch at least AL wild card
- New York Mets: 7 to clinch at least NL wild card
- Houston Astros: 8 to clinch at least AL wild card
When do MLB playoffs start?
The 2025 MLB postseason will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 30 with all four wild-card series getting underway. The best of-three series are scheduled to run through Thursday, Oct. 2. The best-of-five division series starts on Saturday, Oct. 4, two days after the conclusion of the wild-card series.
