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The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
(MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was first instituted in 2012;
best-of-three playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...
wild card series were adopted for the 2022 season. Under the current playoff structure, there are two series in both the
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...
(AL) and
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(NL). The lowest-seeded division winner and three wild card teams in each league play in a best-of-three series after the end of the regular season. The winners of each league's wild card rounds advance to face the top two division winners in that league's Division Series. This expansion of the postseason also abolished any regular season extending tie-breaker games.


Format

Under the format adopted in 2022, six teams in each league are assigned
seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...
s for the postseason. The top three seeds in each league are the three division winners. The division winners are always assigned seeds No 1 through No 3, per their relative
winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...
s. The wild cards in each league are the three teams with the best winning percentages among non-division winning teams. These wild card teams are assigned seeds No. 4 through No. 6, per their relative winning percentages. Any ties are broken using MLB tie-breaking procedures, no tie-breaking games (colloquially known as "
Game 163 A tie-breaker was required in Major League Baseball (MLB) when two or more teams were tied at the end of the regular season for a postseason position such as a league pennant (prior to the introduction of the League Championship Series in 1969 ...
") are contested. The top two seeds in each league receive byes and do not play in a wild card series. The remaining four teams, seeds No. 3 through No. 6, play in two wild card series. All games in each wild card series are played at the higher-seeded club's home ballpark. These two series are: No. 3 hosting No. 6, and No. 4 hosting No. 5. In the Division Series, the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 series faces the No. 1 seed, and the winner of the No. 3. vs. No. 6 series faces the No. 2 seed. The
bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
structure in each league looks as follows:


History

The Wild Card round was initially introduced in 2012 as a single-game playoff between two wild-card teams in each league, with the winner advancing to the Division Series. With the adoption of MLB's new
collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
in November 2011, baseball commissioner
Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...
announced that a new playoff system would begin within the next two years; the change was ultimately put into place in 2012. This format was used through the 2019 season. For the 2020 postseason, following a shortened 60-game regular season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, MLB held Wild Card Series with eight teams in each league, thus a total of 16 playoff teams. Division champions were seeded 1–3 by record, the second-place teams seeded 4–6 by record, and the two teams with the next-best records were seeded seventh and eighth. Matchups were contested as best-of-three series rather than individual games. MLB returned to the previous format of one Wild Card Game per league for the 2021 postseason, before it changed to two best-of-three Wild Card series per league the next year. As of the beginning of the 2021 postseason, 26 of the 30 MLB franchises have reached the Wild Card round of the postseason (either a Wild Card Game or the 2020 Wild Card Series). The
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
have the most appearances with five. The Yankees and the
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...
have the most wins during the Wild Card round with three each. The
Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...
have the most losses during the Wild Card round, having lost three of their four appearances. Through the 2021 postseason, Wild Card Game winners have gone on to compile an overall 9–9 record in League Division Series, with Wild Card Game winners going 4–5 in the ALDS and 5–4 in the NLDS. Two Wild Card Game winners have gone on to win the World Series (the 2014 Giants and the 2019 Nationals). The 2014 postseason featured the first series sweeps involving a Wild Card Game winner; both in favor of the AL Wild Card
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
, who swept the Los Angeles Angels in the
ALDS In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...
and the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
in the
ALCS The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
. The Royals then met the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...
in the
2014 World Series The 2014 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2014 season. The 110th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants and the Ameri ...
, the second all-Wild Card fall classic, which the Giants won in seven games. The first all-Wild Card World Series had also involved the Giants, who lost the 2002 World Series to the then-Anaheim Angels in seven games. In the sixteen games played since the new Wild Card system began in 2012, five have been shutouts. In eight of the eleven others, the losing team scored three or fewer runs. Only the 2014 AL Wild Card game between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics and the 2017 NL Wild Card game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks featured high scoring by both teams, with the Royals eventually winning 9–8 in 12 innings and the Diamondbacks winning 11–8 with the most runs scored in a Wild Card game. The margin of victory has been four runs or more in eight of the sixteen games played, and one run only three times—in the 2014 Royals-Athletics game, the 2018 Rockies-Cubs game, and the 2019 Nationals-Brewers game.


Results

Through the 2021 postseason, visiting teams and home teams have each won nine of the 18 games played. There have been five shutouts, each of which has been won by the visiting team, including three consecutive shutouts in the 2014–2016 NL editions. Two of the three extra innings games have been won by the home team. Three games have ended in walk-off victory for the home team, with the 2021 NL edition being the only one in regulation.


American League Wild Card Game


National League Wild Card Game


Wild Card Series

After the shortened 60-game regular season of , the first round of the MLB postseason consisted of four Wild Card Series in each league, each series being a best-of-three hosted by the higher seed. Eight teams from each league participated: three division winners, three division runners-up, and two wild card teams (the two remaining teams with the best records, based on winning percentage). Thus, while each league's Wild Card Series featured a total of eight teams, there were still only two wild card qualifiers per league. Starting in 2022, a modified version of the Wild Card Series was used. However, only three Wild Cards qualify along with the lowest-seeded division winner.


American League Wild Card Series


National League Wild Card Series


Appearances by team

In the sortable tables below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. These records reflect series outcomes of the 2020 Wild Card Series, not individual games. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning appearances.


American League


National League


Game results by team

Updated through the 2022 postseason. These records reflect individual game results of the 2020 Wild Card Series. The following current MLB teams have not yet appeared in a Wild Card playoff: :American League:
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
, Los Angeles Angels


Records

;Single team * Most runs scored: 12, New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians, Game 1 of the 2020 ALWC * Most hits: 17, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies, 2017 NLWC ;Both teams * Most runs scored: 20, St. Louis Cardinals (9) vs. San Diego Padres (11), Game 1 of the 2020 NLWC * Most hits: 30, Colorado Rockies (13) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (17), 2017 NLWC ;Other *Largest run differential: 9, New York Yankees (12) vs. Cleveland Indians (3), Game 1 of the 2020 ALWC *Longest game, by time: 297 minutes (4:57), Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians, Game 2 of the 2022 ALWCS *Longest game, by innings: 15, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians, Game 2 of the 2022 ALWCS


See also

* List of Major League Baseball Wild Card Round broadcasters


Notes


References

{{MLB Wild Card Game * Major League Baseball playoffs and champions Recurring sporting events established in 2012 October sporting events 2012 establishments in North America Annual events in Major League Baseball