Baseball’s postseason has arrived, and it’s in a new format this year. Instead of 10 teams in the playoffs, we now have a 12-team tournament — the three division winners plus three wild card teams in each league. Postseason play gets underway on Friday with the wild card round. Each wild card series is now the best of three instead of the previous winner-take-all one-game affair.
Starting things off will be the Tampa Bay Rays taking on the Cleveland Guardians in one of the American League’s two wild card series. The games will be played at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Friday, Saturday and (if necessary) Sunday. Game 1 starts today at 12:07 p.m. ET (11:07 a.m. CT, 9:07 a.m. PT) on ESPN.
Here’s how you can watch baseball’s postseason, from the wild card round through the World Series, without cable.
Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians will host the Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-three AL Wild Card round.
Jason Miller/Getty ImagesThe Guardians won the AL Central but finished behind the other two division winners — the Astros in the NL West and the Yankees in the AL East — so they must play in the first round instead of resting on a bye. They enter as the 3 seed against the Rays, who are the 6 seed as the last team to qualify for the playoffs in the American League. The winner of this best-of-three contest will take on the Yankees in the next round.
Here’s the schedule for the Rays-Guardians series. All games will be played in Cleveland.
- Game 1: Friday at 12:07 p.m. ET (9:07 a.m. ET) on ESPN
- Game 2: Saturday at 12:07 p.m. ET (9:07 a.m. PT) on ESPN2
- Game 3: Sunday at 4:07 p.m. ET (1:07 p.m. PT) on ESPN (if necessary)
Click here for the full postseason schedule.
All of the wild card games will be on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Looking ahead, the next two rounds in the National League (the NLDS and NLCS) will be on Fox and FS1 while the ALDS and ALCS will be on TBS. The World Series, which begins on Oct. 28, will be on Fox.
Three of the five major live TV streaming services carry all of the channels you need to watch every game of the postseason, but not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries ABC and Fox in your area.
If you live in an area with good reception, then you can watch one or two Wild Card games on ABC and the World Series on Fox for free on over-the-air broadcast channels just by attaching an affordable (under $30) indoor antenna to nearly any TV.
YouTube TV costs $65 a month and includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC for the wild card round games along with Fox, FS1 and TBS for future rounds. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area. Read our YouTube TV review.
Hulu with Live TV costs $70 a month and includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC along with Fox, FS1 and TBS for future rounds. Click the “View channels in your area” link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code. Read our Hulu with Live TV review.
FuboTV’s Family plan costs $70 a month and includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC for the wild card round games. It also includes Fox and FS1 for the NLDS, NLCS and World Series, but it does not offer TBS for the ALDS and ALCS. Click here to see which local channels you get. Read our FuboTV review.
All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live-TV streaming services guide.
