MLB playoff bracket: See the 2026 ALDS and NLDS matchups

Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies homered Thursday night to give the Atlanta Braves their first win in a winner-take-all playoff game since Game 7 of the 1996 National League Championship Series. They

had lost six straight in between.

And the reward for that breakthrough? They get fly across the country to Los Angeles to face the two-time World Series defending champion Dodgers.

The division series open Saturday with four games in one day, all best-of-five games series.

The Tampa Bay Rays had the best record in the American League. They also haven't won a playoff series since 2020. They host the New York Yankees, who gave up two runs in two games against Boston. The Chicago White Sox swept Houston for their first series win since 2005. Next is Cleveland, a division rival they have never played in the postseason.

Then there's Jacob Misiorowski. The Milwaukee right-hander led the majors in ERA, strikeouts and opponents' batting average, something only Sandy Koufax, J.R. Richard and Mike Scott have done since 1950. He gets the ball in Game 1 against San Diego, a team that just held the majors' highest-scoring offense to one run in two haves.

The best-of-seven league championship series start Oct. 11, and the World Series opens Oct. 23.

Here's how the bracket looks: