The Braves and Reds will begin their best-of-three wild-card series Wednesday at 12 p.m., MLB announced Sunday night. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Game 1 will be the first of eight playoff games scheduled for Wednesday, when the National League postseason begins. The American League starts a day earlier. The 16-team expanded postseason creates a March Madness-style schedule for the first few days.

Braves lefty Max Fried will face Reds righty Trevor Bauer in Game 1. Fried and Bauer have been among the NL Cy Young frontrunners throughout the season, and the latter is the betting favorite to win the award.

Thursday’s Game 2 will begin at noon and Friday’s Game 3, if necessary, will begin at 3 p.m.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Braves shortstop Ha-Seong Kim has a $16 million player option and if he accepts, he'd fill a bit of a need for the team in 2026. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Featured

A native of Columbus and a fine arts graduate of Clark Atlanta, Amy Sherald was chosen as the official portrait artist of former first lady Michelle Obama. On the same week that the portrait was unveiled at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, it was also announced that Sherald was awarded the High Museum's 2018 David C. Driskell Prize. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Credit: Andrew Harnik