San Diego finishes the sweep
The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs twice in a row to win their wild-card series 2-0 and move on to the National League Division Series, where the Milwaukee Brewers await.
Milwaukee finished with the best record in baseball and took the top seed in the National League, so the series opens at American Family Field. Game 1 is Saturday, 3 October, at 7:30 p.m. local time, on Fox or FS1.
Two teams that know each other
It will be the first time the Brewers and Padres have met in the playoffs. San Diego was the stronger side through most of the second half, and swept the Brewers in San Diego in August. Milwaukee won two of three when the clubs met in Milwaukee in May, and the Padres took four of the six meetings overall.
San Diego will lean on a rotation that held the Cubs quiet across two games. Milwaukee has relied on pitching and defence all season, and got the bye that let its staff rest.
The rest of the bracket
In the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays face the New York Yankees, and the Cleveland Guardians meet the Chicago White Sox. The Los Angeles Dodgers wait for the winner of the Braves-Phillies wild-card series.
All four Division Series begin on Saturday, with the first two games at the better seed and a travel day built into the schedule. The Cubs go home early after two quiet games at the plate, and their winter planning starts now.
Milwaukee and Cleveland earned byes as the top seeds in their leagues, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays also skipped the wild-card round. That means the highest seeds enter the Division Series with rested rotations, a real edge in a short series where one tired starter can decide a game.
For the Padres, the path is simple but hard: beat the team with the best record in baseball, on the road, to reach the championship series.