Baseball enjoyers have a big day on tap Thursday, Oct. 2 with a tripleheader of winner-take-all games set to decide Major League Baseball’s wild card series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ swept the Cincinnati Reds, but all the other best-of-three series were pushed to the limit on Wednesday. Things get underway at 3 p.m. ET with the Cleveland Guardians hosting the Detroit Tigers. The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres face off at Wrigley Field at 6 p.m. ET and then the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox clash in the nightcap.
The winners advance to the best-of-five Division Series, which begin on Saturday.
Here’s how USA TODAY Sports’ MLB experts see the winner-take-all games playing out:
Guardians vs Tigers prediction
Bob Nightengale: Guardians 4, Tigers 2
Gabe Lacques: Tigers 4, Guardians 2
Jesse Yomtov: Guardians 5, Tigers 3
Cubs vs Padres prediction
Bob Nightengale: Cubs 5, Padres 3
Gabe Lacques: Padres 7, Cubs 4
Jesse Yomtov: Padres 6, Cubs 3
Yankees vs Red Sox prediction
Bob Nightengale: Yankees 5, Red Sox 4
Gabe Lacques: Red Sox 5, Yankees 3
Jesse Yomtov: Red Sox 7, Yankees 2
MLB playoff bracket
