Where to watch Braves vs. Padres: TV channel, live stream, watch postseason baseball online, odds, time

Major League Baseball’s playoffs will commence on Tuesday with the four best-of-three Wild Card Series. One such offering on the National League side of the bracket will see the No. 4 San Diego Padres play the No. 5 Atlanta Braves at Petco Park in San Diego.

Whichever team wins this series will then advance to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-five NL Division Series.

Here is the Wild Card Series schedule:

Where to watch

Date: Tuesday, Oct. 1 | Time: 8:38 p.m. ET
Location: Petco Park (San Diego)
Channel: ESPN | Stream: fubo
Probable pitchers: SD RHP Michael King (13-9, 2.95 ERA) vs. AJ Smith-Shawver (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Odds: ATL +122 | SD -145; over/under: 7.0

The Padres will start Joe Musgrove in Game 2 and, if necessary, Dylan Cease in Game 3. Yu Darvish will work out of the bullpen in the Wild Card Series. Atlanta will turn to AJ Smith-Shawver, who pitched just once for them during the regular season. NL Cy Young favorite Chris Sale will not be available. He’s dealing with a back issue that prevented him from pitching in Monday’s doubleheader and did not make the Braves’ Wild Card Series roster. 

Here now are the storylines for each team you need to know heading into the Wild Card Series.

Braves: Atlanta did not clinch a postseason berth until Game 162 and, to put it lightly, their pitching is a mess at the moment. Sale will not be available in the Wild Card Series and Max Fried will not be able to pitch on normal rest until Game 2. Reynaldo López, who was lined up to start Game 1, threw an inning out of the bullpen Monday. Hence Smith-Shawver and perhaps Bryce Elder getting the nod to begin the series. The Braves are pushing the limits of their pitching depth and, of course, they’re without key hitters Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley. Both are done for the season with injuries. After the doubleheader Monday, the Braves had to fly cross country to San Diego, so they will be a tired team short on arms. But, they’re in the postseason, and once you’re in you have a chance to win the World Series.

Padres: No team finished the regular season hotter than the Padres. San Diego went 43-19 in their final 62 games, a 122-win pace, and they are awfully imposing on paper. Cease, Darvish, King, and Musgrove is a formidable rotation, the bullpen is the deepest and most powerful in baseball, and the lineup is sneaky deep with power and a ton of contact ability. Padres’ hitters struck out in only 17.6% of their plate appearances this season, by far the lowest rate in baseball. The Astros were a distant second at 19.3%. The Padres clinched early and will be well-rested going into the Wild Card Series. That does not guarantee anything, but it does put them in a favorable position heading into the series.