The 2025 MLB Wild Card Round is officially set to begin on Tuesday. We saw a fair share of excitement even in the season’s final week, which saw teams’ seedings change right before their eyes. Here, we’ll go over all of the Wild Card round matchups and their series prices. The best-of-three Wild Card round replaced the single-elimination game that the league used from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021. The higher seed hosts all games.
(6) Detroit Tigers vs. (3) Cleveland Guardians
The Detroit Tigers are coming off a collapse of seismic proportions. On July 9, they sat at 59-34. Before a win on Thursday, the Tigers had lost 20 out of 27 games and 15 of their first 20 games in the month. As a result, the Cleveland Guardians became the first team in MLB history to overcome a deficit of more than 15 games.
Now, the pressure will be on the Tigers to put that stretch behind them in hopes of advancing to the divisional round. Despite the collapse, oddsmakers have pegged the Tigers as very slight -115 favorites to win the series with the Guardians at -105 on the other side of the 2025 MLB Wild Card Round odds. The Tigers have their ace Tarik Skubal on the mound for Game 1, while the Guardians counter with Gavin Williams. The Guardians were 8-5 against the Tigers this season and took five out of six matchups in September. For Detroit to come out on top, Game 1 with their ace is a must-win.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:08 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
(5) Boston Red Sox vs. (4) New York Yankees
The other 2025 MLB Wild Card round matchup in the American League also features a pair of divisional foes. Perhaps the most storied rivalry in baseball history, the New York Yankees (-165) will play host to the Boston Red Sox (+135) for a trip to the ALDS on the line. First pitch is scheduled for 6:08 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The Red Sox had the upper hand on the Yankees this season, going 9-4. Perhaps even more impressive, they went 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. However, the Yankees were the better team down the stretch, when they won three of the final four matchups. On the mound for the Yankees will be lefty Max Fried. He was an impressive 19-5 this season. While the Red Sox hit .271 against him in three matchups this season, they scored only four runs.
The Red Sox will counter with their lefty ace of their own in Garrett Crochet, who finished with an 18-5 record. Crochet pitched against the Yankees more than any single opponent this season. In four games, he allowed 10 runs, and Yankee hitters batted .200 off him. However, Boston’s hopes took a significant blow when the team announced that Lucas Giolito would not be on the roster for this series due to an elbow injury.
(6) Cincinnati Reds vs (3) Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of two NL West teams in the 2025 MLB Wild Card Round. They’ll take on a Cincinnati Reds squad that got into the playoffs by winning a tie-breaker with the New York Mets, who went 38-55 in the second half of the season. The Reds had to play their part, though, as they had to win eight of their last 11 games.
The Reds will send out Hunter Greene, while the Dodgers will be relying on Blake Snell. Greene was 7-4 this season with a 2.76 ERA. He had a few stints on the injured list this season, but was great when available. Snell is in the same boat. He landed on the injured list after two starts due to inflammation in the shoulder and didn’t rejoin the team until early August. In his 11 starts, he went 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA. In 2024, Snell threw a no-hitter against the Reds while he was a member of the San Francisco Giants.
The Dodgers are overwhelming favorites in this series at -245 and the Reds at +205—after the Dodgers won five of their six games and doubled the Reds’ scoring production in those games. If you want to bet the Dodgers, to shrink the vig, you could go with the game/series double bet of the Dodgers to take Game 1 and win the series at -125, or pick the series correct score at 2-0 of +140 if you’re really confident.
First pitch is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
(5) San Diego Padres vs (4) Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs had a good season, finishing 92-70. The problem is that the Milwaukee Brewers were better. They finished five games behind the juggernaut Milwaukee Brewers, who ended with the best record in baseball at 97-65.
The Cubs are sending lefty Matthew Boyd to the hill in Game 1. The Padres weren’t good against lefties this season, and the Cubs could send lefties to the mound in back-to-back games. The Cubs got a lift at the end of the season when Kyle Tucker returned after missing time with a calf strain.
When the two teams met this season, there wasn’t much to separate them. They each earned two out of three series wins. First pitch at Wrigley Field is slated for 3:08 p.m. EST. At -125, that’s not a bad price for a team that may be superior to their opponent. Additionally, you can explore our free plays, particularly this total.