No matter what happened, the last day of Disney’s expiring contract with Major League Baseball was coming Thursday. ESPN and ABC will go out with a bang. MORE: Netflix’s Montreal Expos documentary looks like a true crime thriller For only the second time in the history of baseball’s postseason,

The second day of the 2025 MLB playoffs is in the books and three out of four series are headed to a do-or-die Game 3. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the lone team to wrap up their Wild Card Series, sweeping the Cincinnati Reds in dominating fashion.

As the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros battle for first place in the AL West – and wild-card seeding – the Boston Red Sox have dropped a spot and must now fight off the Guardians. In the NL wild-card chase, the New York Mets just won a crucial series against the Padres, denting San Diego's hopes of running down the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Wild Card series fast-tracks the top two division winners in each league to the divisional round, while the worst division winner and three wild card entrants battle it out. T

The MLB postseason continues Thursday with the AL and NL wild-card series. Which squads will come out on top and advance to the next round of the playoffs?

The new postseason format with three wild cards in each league began in 2022, with the top two division winners getting a bye to the LDS. Quadruple-headers are on the schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday, with more potential games set for Thursday if necessary.

ESPN’s final year with Major League Baseball’s wild-card round was a historic one. The network announced Monday that the wild-card round of the playoffs last week averaged 4.6 million viewers. That’s up 64% from last year’s games and a record in the history of the three-game wild card format.

The 2025 MLB playoffs begin this week, as a new slate of eager teams prepare for a spot in the World Series. Breaking down each team's financials is always intriguing during this time of year in particular to see if how the biggest spenders did compared to the more frugal MLB franchises.

While the World Series is Major League Baseball's grand finale, the wild-card series is the opening act of the postseason. Check out key facts about the MLB wild-card process and history below. What is a wild card? A wild card is given to MLB teams in each ...

First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 4-for-4 with a single, two doubles and a home run, plus an intentional walk. And veteran starter Shane Bieber held Seattle down on offense, recording eight strikeouts while allowing two runs and four hits across the first six innings.