Home · Sports · Sep 28 archive
MLB 2026 Playoff Bracket Set, Wild Card Series Kicks Off Tuesday
Developing
In Short: The 2026 Wild Card Series will kick off on Tuesday, September 29, with the Yankees and Red Sox facing off in Game 1.
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will meet again in the 2026 MLB Wild Card Series, as Boston secured the No. 2 American League wild-card seed with a victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
This series marks the second consecutive year the two historic rivals will clash in the Wild Card round.
The Yankees and Red Sox first met in the playoffs in the 1999 AL Championship Series, with the Yankees defeating the Red Sox in five games.
In a memorable 2004 AL Championship Series, the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series, becoming the first team in professional sports to achieve such a comeback.
The rivalry continued in 2018 when the Red Sox defeated the Yankees in the AL Division Series.
The Yankees' star player, Aaron Judge, remains uncertain for the series as the team evaluates his status.
The full postseason schedule includes the Wild Card Series beginning on Tuesday, followed by the Division Series on Saturday, October 3, and the League Championship Series no earlier than Sunday, October 11.
The 2026 World Series is set to begin on Friday, October 14.
What this adds
The rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox dates back to the 1999 AL Championship Series, with notable comebacks and dramatic moments in their playoff history.
Background
The Boston Red Sox will travel to the Bronx to face the New York Yankees in the Wild Card round of the 2026 MLB playoffs.
Fat Bear Week, an annual competition to crown the fattest brown bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve, kicks off with a new 16-bear bracket.
What's still developing
- The two teams first met in the playoffs in the 1999 AL Championship Series, with the Yankees handling the Red Sox in five games and going on to win the World Series in what was the first season superstar right-hander and then-five-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, who spent the first 13 seasons of his MLB career with the Red Sox (1984-96), was with the team.
- A series that included benches clearing in Game 3 and competitive games on the whole ended with a walk-off home run from Yankees third baseman — and now manager — Aaron Boone — to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7 in a game where New York trailed 4-0 in the fifth inning.
- After going down 3-0 in the series and giving up 19 runs on their home field in Game 3, the Red Sox became the first team in professional sports to win a series after trailing 3-0.
- Major League Baseball is winding down its regular season, with just two weeks to play before the postseason bracket is set.
- When the Philadelphia Phillies won their game, they finally buried the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card race.
- The Angels last made the playoffs in 2014, making for the longest drought of any team in MLB.
- The Phillies held a 6.5-game lead for the third Wild Card spot on September 1st.
- With the Padres' win on Saturday, they locked up the top wild card spot and will host the Cubs in a rematch of last year's wild card matchup.
- This leaves the only playoff drama for Sunday in the AL West, where the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are tied for the division lead.