How Many Games In Baseball Playoffs?
The baseball playoffs are a best-of-seven series played between the two divisional winners of each league. The winner of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS) advance to the World Series.
How the Playoffs Work
The baseball playoffs are a tournament held after the conclusion of the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season. The tournament determines the league’s champion, which then goes on to play in the World Series, MLB’s championship series.
The Wild Card
The two teams with the best record in each league who did not win their divisional championship play each other in a one-game playoff called the “wild card game.” The winner of that game moves on to the divisional playoffs.
The Division Series
The first round of the playoffs is the Division Series (DS), a best-of-five series. The Division Series is played between the winners of the two divisional tiebreakers, if necessary, and the two wild card teams in each league. The higher seeds in each League play at home for games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary); the lower seeds will have home field advantage for Games 3 and 4 (if necessary).
The League Championship Series
The League Championship Series (LCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two round used to determine who will represent the American League and National League in the World Series. The LCS is played after the Division Series.
The American League winner plays the National League winner in the World Series. In 2004, Major League Baseball added a best-of-seven series to the National League playoffs, bringing both leagues’ postseason tournament formats into line.
Prior to 1969, and again from 1995–1997, home-field advantage in the World Series went to the team that had the better regular-season record. From 1998–2012 (and since 2017), home-field advantage has been awarded to the team that wins the LCS.
The World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy. As the series is played during October, during the season when regular-season games end, some World Series games extend into November.
How Many Games are Played in Each Round?
The MLB playoffs are a best-of-seven series. That means that the first team to win four games in the series moves on to the next round. In the Wild Card and Divisional rounds, the higher seed (the team with the better record in the regular season) will host all four games.
The Wild Card
In each league, the team with the best record that did not win its division automatically earns a spot in the playoffs. That team is said to have “earned a Wild Card berth.” The other playoff teams in each league are the three division winners.
In recent years, baseball expanded the playoffs to include a Wild Card Game. This is a one-game playoff between the two Wild Card teams in each league. The winner of that game advances to play one of the division winners in a best-of-five series called the Division Series.
The Division Series playoff is a best-of-five game series between the two remaining divisional champs from each league. The winner from each league then moves on to play in the best-of-seven League Championship Series (ALCS or NLCS).
Finally, the remaining two teams face off in the best-of-seven World Series to determine who will be crowned MLB’s champion for that year!
The Division Series
In each round of the playoffs, two teams play a best-of-five series to determine which team advances to the next round. The division series is played between the two divisional winners and the two wild card teams.
The League Championship Series
In each league, the divisional winners (the team with the best won-lost record in each division) play each other in a best-of-seven playoff series to determine who will advance to the World Series. In recent years, this round of the playoffs has been called the League Championship Series (LCS). The American League Champion is determined in a series between the East and West division champions, while the National League Champion is determined in a series between the Central and Wild Card division champions.
The World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy. As the series is played in October, during baseball’s offseason, exclusive home field advantage in the World Series goes to whoever had the better regular-season record. From 1922 to 2016, home field advantage in the World Series alternated between the two leagues each year.
Since 2016, home field advantage has been given to whichever league wins that year’s All-Star Game. In other words, if an AL team wins that game, it’ll host Games 1 and 2 at its ballpark; if an NL team wins instead, it’ll get Games 3 and 4 at its own place. (And if a tie game goes into extra innings, home field advantage for that particular Game 7 would go to whoever led off that particular inning.)
Why the Number of Games Varies
The number of games in the MLB playoffs varies depending on the year and the format of the playoffs. In some years, there are more games played in the playoffs than in other years. The reason for this is because the MLB postseason is a best-of-seven format.
The Wild Card
In baseball, the playoffs are a best-of-seven series. However, the number of games in any particular series can vary based on how that series is structured. For example, the American League (AL) and National League (NL) Division Series are both best-of-five contests, while the AL and NL Championship Series are best-of-seven events. Finally, the World Series is always a best-of-seven affair.
The reason for this difference is that MLB employs a “2-2-1” format for its first two rounds of playoffs (the Division Series), meaning that the higher seed in each series starts at home for Games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary), while the lower seed hosts Games 3 and 4 (if necessary). This format is used so that each team has an equal chance to win its series, regardless of who has home field advantage.
However, MLB uses a “2-3” format for its final two rounds of playoffs (the League Championship Series), meaning that the higher seed in each series starts at home for Games 1, 2, and 6 (if necessary), while the lower seed hosts Games 3, 4, and 5 (if necessary). This format is used so that the team with the better regular season record has a slightly better chance of winning its series.
Finally, MLB uses a “2-3-2” format for the World Series, meaning that the higher seed in each series starts at home for Games 1, 2, 6 (if necessary), and 7 (if necessary), while the lower seed hosts Games 3, 4, and 5 (if necessary). This format is used so that the team with the better regular season record has a slightly better chance of winning its World Series.
The Division Series
The Division Series is a best-of-five series played between the two divisional winners of each league. The division winner with the better record hosts Games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary), while the other division winner hosts Games 3 and 4 (if necessary).
The League Championship Series
The League Championship Series (LCS) is a best-of-seven series played in October in the Major League Baseball postseason that determines the winner of the American League (AL) pennant. The winner of the LCS advances to play the winner of the National League (NL) Championship Series (NLCS) in the World Series, Major League Baseball’s championship series.
In 2004, the LCS was expanded from a best-of-five format to a best-of-seven format. Best-of-seven has been used in all subsequent contests except for 2020, when it was changed to a best-of-five due to the COVID pandemic.
Prior to 1969, the American League (AL) and National League (NL) each had one league champion. From 1884 to 1890, four teams played in a tournament culminating in a single championship game; this arrangement was subsequently abandoned due to fan and press displeasure with it. The National Agreement between MLB and its players association created separate AL and NL championships from 1903 onwards; initially these were contested by three teams each, with expanded playoffs from 1969 onwards resulting in each league having four teams qualify for post-season play. After two all-East Coast finals in21 years, baseball implemented a short lived “cross over” rule in which the team with the better record would play the weaker division’s champion; this led to some peculiar match ups such as 1972’s Baltimore Orioles versus Pittsburgh Pirates World Series.
The World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy. As the series is played during the fall season in North America, it is sometimes referred to as the Fall Classic.
