The Major League Baseball postseason begins Tuesday, with wild card teams fighting to keep their seasons alive. Fortunately for those squads, the 2023 wild card format once again features a best-of-three series rather than a single win-or-go-home matchup.'
A wild card team's margin for error is slim, but it’s larger than it was during the 2012-19 and 2021 seasons. Interestingly, each of the four wild card teams to win Game 1 of their series last season advanced to the next round.'
In the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays (-164 to win the series on FanDuel) host the Texas Rangers and the Minnesota Twins (-118 to win the series) host the Toronto Blue Jays beginning Tuesday. All games during the wild card round are hosted by the better seed — in this case, Tampa Bay and Minnesota. Home-field advantage proved minimal in 2022, however, with three of the four road wild card teams advancing to the next round.'
The Rays and Blue Jays are two of three American League East teams to make the playoffs, with the Baltimore Orioles earning the No. 1 seed.'