MLB postseason history: How many Wild Card series have gone to decisive Game 3?
Three of the four Wild Card series have been decided, but there's still a little more excitement in store before we move on to the Divisional Round. The New York Mets sprinted to a win in Game 1 of their best-of-three against the Milwaukee Brewers, but Jackson Chourio and the Crew bounced back with a late rally to take Game 2 — and set up the four most exciting words in all of sports: win or go home. Will New York keep this magical run going, or will Milwaukee finally snap out of its postseason funk? One game will tell us the answer
Before we get to that, though, let's take a look back at just how rare a Game 3 is in this new Wild Card format.
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MLB Wild Card series format
The seeds of the current format date back to 2020, when a pandemic-shortened season forced MLB to pivot away from its traditional postseason and get creative. What had been a one-game playoff between two Wild Card teams became a best-of-three Wild Card Round, with all eight of each league's postseason qualifiers (three division winners, three runners-up and the two remaining teams with the best record) participating.
MLB reverted back to the one-game version in 2021, but for 2022 they decided to adopt the best-of-three format for good. This time, though, there would be only three Wild Card spots, and four teams in each league would take part: one series between the lowest-seeded division winner and the lowest-seeded Wild Card team, and another between the two highest-seeded Wild Card teams. That format has remained in place since.
MLB Wild Card series history
Including the 2020 version of the format, there have been 20 best-of-three Wild Card series in MLB history — 10 in the AL and 10 in the NL. Below are the full results of the 10 American League series:
Year | Team | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Tampa Bay Rays | Toronto Blue Jays | Rays win, 2-0 |
2020 | Oakland A's | Chicago White Sox | A's win, 2-1 |
2020 | Minnesota Twins | Houston Astros | Astros win, 2-0 |
2020 | Cleveland Guardians | New York Yankees | Yankees win, 2-0 |
2022 | Cleveland Guardians | Tampa Bay Rays | Guardians win, 2-0 |
2022 | Toronto Blue Jays | Seattle Mariners | Mariners win, 2-0 |
2023 | Minnesota Twins | Toronto Blue Jays | Twins win, 2-0 |
2023 | Tampa Bay Rays | Texas Rangers | Rangers win, 2-0 |
2024 | Houston Astros | Detroit Tigers | Tigers win, 2-0 |
2024 | Baltimore Orioles | Kansas City Royals | Royals win, 2-0 |
And here are the results of all 10 NL series:
Year | Team | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Milwaukee Brewers | Dodgers win, 2-0 |
2020 | Atlanta Braves | Cincinnati Reds | Braves win, 2-0 |
2020 | Chicago Cubs | Miami Marlins | Marlins win, 2-0 |
2020 | San Diego Padres | St. Louis Cardinals | Padres win, 2-1 |
2022 | St. Louis Cardinals | Philadelphia Phillies | Phillies win, 2-0 |
2022 | New York Mets | San Diego Padres | Padres win, 2-1 |
2023 | Philadelphia Phillies | Miami Marlins | Phillies win, 2-0 |
2023 | Milwaukee Brewers | Arizona Diamondbacks | D-backs win, 2-0 |
2024 | San Diego Padres | Atlanta Braves | Padres win, 2-0 |
2024 | New York Mets | Milwaukee Brewers | Tied, 1-1 |
Has any Wild Card series gone to a decisive Game 3?
As you can see above, Thursday night's Brewers-Mets clash is just the fourth time that a Wild Card series has reached a decisive Game 3 — and only the second time since the league adopted the current format in 2022. That series, of course, also featured the Mets, who fell to the Padres in a game in which Buck Showalter accused Joe Musgrove of doctoring the ball while Musgrove was in the middle of carving up New York's lineup. (Musgrove did not appreciate that too much.)
New York is hoping that history won't be repeating itself this time around.
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