Major League Baseball just concluded its regular season and now the playoffs begin. As always, one team from each division willenter the division series, meaning that those teams had the highest win percentage in their division. Additionally, three teams from each league (American League and National league) get a chance to compete in the World Series if they obtain the wild card. These teams didn’t win their division, but still have a chance to compete in the playoffs because of their high win percentages. 

For the American League, the New York Yankees took the win for the East, the Cleavland Guardians for the Central, and the Houston Astros for the West. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays from the East division secured a wild card, but not without a fight from the surprisingly good Baltimore Orioles, who were projected to do poorly this year. The Seattle Mariners from the West division also obtained a wild card position. 

As for the National League, the Atlanta Braves barely beat the New York Mets for the East division title along with the St. Louis Cardinals for the Central and the Los Angeles Dodgers for the West. The New York Mets fell short of entering the division series, but were able to secure a wild card in the East division along with the Philadelphia Phillies, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. Accompanying them in the wild card division from the West includes the San Diego Padres. 

So far, only the wild card teams have played. When the Rays and the Guardians faced off, the Guardians won both games, moving forward to the division series and ending the season for the Rays. A similar situation occurred with the Phillies and the Cardinals, with Philadelphia winning and St. Louis losing, as well as with the Mariners and the Blue Jays, where the former won. The Padres and the Mets were forced to play three games, where the Padres ultimately won. 

The next matchups for the division series include: the Phillies vs the Braves, the Mariners vs the Astros, the Guardians vs the Yankees, and the Padres vs the Dodgers. Whoever wins will move onto the conference series and compete for the 2022 World Series title. Tune in to see who dominates the World Series this year!