MLB Divisional Round: Full schedule, format, how to watch and more

And then there were eight. The Wild Card Round is in the books, complete with upsets galore. Now it's time to get down to brass tacks, with the final four in both the NL and AL squaring off — including matchups that feature some of the sport's biggest names and rivalries. Who will advance and move one step closer to the World Series? There's only one way to find out.

Complete Divisional Series schedule: Dates, times, and TV channels

Below is the full Divisional Round schedule, complete with start times and TV channels.

*If necessary

If the Dodgers-Padres series ends after Game 3, each game will move back an hour on Wednesday, Oct. 9: Guardians-Tigers moves to 4 p.m. ET, Phillies-Mets to 6 p.m. ET and Yankees-Royals to 8 p.m. ET. If there's only one game on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, that game will take place at 8 p.m. ET regardless of which series it is.

How to watch the MLB Divisional Round

Both AL series will air on TBS, save for a potential Game 4 between the Guardians and Tigers, which would air on TNT. The two NL series will air either on FOX or on FS1. Fans without cable have several streaming options, including Fubo, DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV and Sling. Games will also be available to stream via MLB.tv (subscription required), and all ALDS games will stream on Max.

Key matchups to watch for in each Division Series

On the American League side, it's an AL Central invasion, as three teams from the Central division have advanced to the Divisional Round. The headliner is a renewal of one of baseball's fiercest rivalries, as Bobby Witt Jr. leads the upstart Kansas City Royals against Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and the New York Yankees. On the other side of the bracket, Tarik Skubal and the Cinderella Detroit Tigers look to keep their magical run going against Emmanuel Clase and the Cleveland Guardians' lights-out bullpen.

Things are even juicier in the NL, with a pair of fierce division rivalries playing out on the postseason stage. The New York Mets have a distinct team of destiny vibe about them right now, but Bryce Harper and the Phillies are looking to finally break through after two years of postseason heartbreak. The Padres and Dodgers, meanwhile, are no strangers to meeting in the postseason, and we'll finally get to see what Shohei Ohtani can do in October.

Divisional Round broadcast start times and time zones

Below are start times for every Divisional Round game, including local start times for fan bases not on Eastern Time.

Phillies-Mets

• Game 1: 4:08 p.m. ET
• Game 2: 4:08 p.m. ET
• Game 3: 5:08 p.m. ET
• Game 4: 5:08 p.m. ET*
• Game 5: 4:08 p.m. ET*

*If necessary

Dodgers-Padres

• Game 1: 5:38 p.m. PT
• Game 2: 5:08 p.m. PT
• Game 3: 6:08 p.m. PT
• Game 4: 6:08 p.m. PT*
• Game 5: 5:08 p.m. PT*

*If necessary

Yankees-Royals

• Game 1: 6:38 p.m. ET/5:38 p.m. CT
• Game 2: 7:38 p.m. ET/6:38 p.m. CT
• Game 3: 7:08 p.m. ET/6:08 p.m. CT
• Game 4: 8:08 p.m. ET/7:08 p.m. CT*
• Game 5: 8:08 p.m. ET/7:08 p.m. CT*

*If necessary

Guardians-Tigers

• Game 1: 1:08 p.m. ET
• Game 2: 4:08 p.m. ET
• Game 3: 3:08 p.m. ET
• Game 4: 6:08 p.m. ET*
• Game 5: 4:38 p.m. ET*

*If necessary

Divisional Round pitching rotations: Who will start each game?

Guardians-Tigers

Tyler Horton will nominally start Game 1 for Detroit, but if you've paid any attention to the Tigers so far this year, you know that A.J. Hinch is going to mix and match for all nine innings. The one exception is ace Tarik Skubal, who's scheduled to start Game 2. On the other side, Tanner Bibee will get the ball for Game 1, with Matthew Boyd starting Game 2 and Gavin Williams the most likely option for Game 3.

Yankees-Royals

These two rotations are relatively set. Gerrit Cole will go in Game 1 for New York, followed by Carlos Rodon in Game 2 and likely Luis Gil in Game 3. Cole Ragans pitched in Game 1 of Kansas City's Wild Card series against the Orioles, meaning he won't be able to pitch until Game 2 of the ALDS while Michael Wacha gets the nod in Game 1. Seth Lugo will follow in Game 3.

Phillies-Mets

A bit of a shakeup for Rob Thomson's crew, as Zack Wheeler starts Game 1 but Cristopher Sanchez, not Aaron Nola, will go in Game 2. Nola will pitch Game 3 in New York, as Sanchez has far better numbers at home than on the road. For the Mets, Kodai Senga makes his return from a months-long injury layoff to at least serve as an opener for Game 1. Luis Severino will follow in Game 2, with Sean Manaea likely after him in Game 3.

Dodgers-Padres

Los Angeles will send trade acquisition Jack Flaherty to the mound in Game 1, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto following in Game 2 and likely Walker Buehler in Game 3. San Diego had to shuffle things up with the injury to Joe Musgrove; Dylan Cease will go in Game 1, followed by Michael King in Game 2 and most likely Yu Darvish in Game 3.