Wildcard schedule, results and highlights

October is here and with it comes postseason baseball.

The MLB wild card round begins Tuesday with four games spread over the afternoon and evening.

Twelve teams are still in the hunt for the Commissioner's Trophy. Four of them – the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies – will receive first-round byes, while the other eight will face off in the best-of-three wild-card round.

The only thing we know for sure between now and October is that a new team will be crowned champions since the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers are not in the postseason. And beware of the home advantage, it hasn't been particularly good in recent years.

The home team posted a 15-26 (.366) record in last year's postseason, its worst postseason finish in 53 years, dating back to 1970, when there were only four teams in a postseason (4-7, .364).

Over the last five full years, excluding the 2020 postseason when games were played at neutral sites, more series have been won on the road (27) than at home (22).

So stay tuned for all the action from the opening games of the MLB Wild Card Series on Tuesday:

Great news for the Astros: Slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is nursing a sore knee, is on the Wild Card Series roster and is ranked second.

Slightly surprising news: Justin Verlander has been left out of the squad.

Verlander, the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer, has struggled since returning from a neck injury, posting an 8.10 ERA in eight starts since August. In four of those starts, he has given up at least five earned runs.

Verlander has made 37 career starts and earned his first World Series victory on the Astros' path to the 2022 championship.

“Justin Verlander is a professional,” Astros manager Joe Espada said before Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers. “He knows how well our starting players have to perform throughout the season. When we had this conversation, he was all in. He will do what is best for this team. That's why I really appreciated his feedback and the way he assessed his season and his last few starts.

Left-hander Framber Valdez will start Game 1. − Gabe Lacques

Astros lineup

Jose Altuve, 2B
Yordan Alvarez, DH
Kyle Tucker, RF
Alex Bregman, 3B
Yainer Diaz, C
Jeremy Peña, SS
Victor Caratini, 1B
Mauricio Dubon, LF
Jake Meyers, CF

Always east

No. 6 Detroit Tigers at No. 3 Houston Astros – 2:32 p.m
No. 5 Kansas City Royals and No. 4 Baltimore Orioles – 4:07 p.m
No. 6 New York Mets at No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers – 5:32 p.m
No. 5 Atlanta Braves at No. 4 San Diego Padres – 8:38 p.m

Tigers vs Astros: LHP Tarik Skubal (18-4, 2.39 ERA) vs. LHP Framber Valdez (15-7, 2.91 ERA)
Royals vs. Orioles: LHP Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.14 ERA) vs. RHP Corbin Burnes (15-9, 2.92 ERA)
Mets vs Brewers: RHP Luis Severino (11-7, 3.91 ERA) vs. RHP Freddy Peralta (11-9, 3.68 ERA)
Braves vs Padres: TBD vs. RHP Michael King (13-9, 2.95 ERA)

Who will carry on? Here's what the USA TODAY Sports MLB team looks like this week.

Detroit Tigers (86-76) with the Houston Astros (88-73)

Bob Nightengale: Astros in 3rd
Gabe Lacques: Tiger in 2
Steve Gardner Astros in 3rd
Jesse Yomtov: Astros in 3rd
Scott Boeck: Tiger in 3

Kansas City Royals (86-76) with Baltimore Orioles (91-71)

Bob Nightengale: Oriole in 3
Gabe Lacques: Oriole in 2
Steve Gardner: Oriole in 3
Jesse Yomtov: Oriole in 2
Scott Boeck: Oriole in 3

New York Mets (89-73) at Milwaukee Brewers (93-69)

Bob Nightengale: Brewer in 2
Gabe Lacques: Brewer in 2
Steve Gardner: Brewer in 2
Jesse Yomtov: Mets in 3rd
Scott Boeck: Brewer in 2

Atlanta Braves (89-73) with the San Diego Padres (93-69)

Bob Nightengale: Padres in 2nd
Gabe Lacques: Padres in 2nd
Steve Gardner: Padres in 2nd
Jesse Yomtov: Braves in 3rd
Scott Boeck: Padres in 2nd

Astros vs. Tigers

Orioles vs. Royals

Brewers vs. Mets

Padres vs. Braves

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