How to watch the Philadelphia Phillies playoff game today (10/6/24) | FREE LIVE STREAM, time, TV channel for NL Division Series vs. New York Mets

The New York Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Oct. 6, 2024, (10/6/24) at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Luis Severino will start for the Mets and Cristopher Sanchez for the Phillies in Game 2 of the best of five series. The Mets won Game 1, 6-2.

How to watch: Fans can watch all MLB playoff games for FREE via a trial of DirecTV Stream or with fuboTV .

What: National League Division Series

Who: New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies

When: Oct. 6, 2024

Time: 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT)

Where: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

TV: FShohei Ohtani has mashed 100 mph fastballs for homers, stolen bases against some of the game's best catchers and recently wrapped up one of the best regular seasons in Major League Baseball history.

Now the Japanese superstar and his Los Angeles Dodgers have to face something that's arguably even more daunting.

A five-day break.

Since MLB's most recent 12-team playoff format took effect in 2022, five of the eight top seeds have lost in the Division Series, unable to capitalize on the supposed reward of earning a bye through the Wild Card Series.

This year, the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have the top two seeds in the National League, while the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians are in the same position in the American League. That's given all of them five days to prepare for the best-of-five Division Series that begin Saturday.

Sure, a few days to heal bumps and bruises while other teams fight it out is nice. But there's also a downside.

"It's not a vacation," Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott said following a workout earlier this week.

Maybe more than any other professional sport, baseball is one that relies on rhythm and routine . MLB squeezes 162 regular-season games into 187 days over six months, meaning teams are playing games almost daily from April to September. Other than the All-Star break in July, there's never two scheduled days off in a row.

Five days is a relative eternity. And it hasn't always been a good thing.

"It's a trade-off," said Chris Antonetti, Cleveland's president of baseball operations. "The benefit is you get time off. The downside is you're not in the major league environment facing live major league pitching in the normal cadence that you would be during the season.

"But on balance, I think I'd still take the trade-off and want the bye."

The Guardians have played simulated games the past three days to keep fresh. On Wednesday, they played in an empty Progressive Field with crowd noise piped in, giving it the same aura as the pandemic-marred 2020 season.

"What we've tried to do is be really deliberate this week about the environments we're creating to keep our guys ready and ready to compete on Saturday," Antonetti said.

The Yankees are one of the teams that have had success under the current playoff format, winning their 2022 Division Series against the Guardians following a five-day layoff. Manager Aaron Boone said last week that part of his plan was to bring some of the organization's minor leaguers to New York so there were fresh arms for hitters to face while they wait for Saturday.

"We'll do our best to prioritize taking advantage of the rest, which I'm sure several guys at this time of the year will benefit from," Boone said. "But we're also trying to make sure we keep that mental edge and keep guys as sharp as we possibly can with live looks."

The Dodgers are the poster child for what can go wrong following a long break in October. They were the top NL seed in 2022 but lost in four games to the San Diego Padres. Last season, they also earned a bye before getting drilled by the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game sweep.

Now Los Angeles is back in the same position. The Dodgers are in a good spot in many ways — they've got one of the game's best offensive lineups with Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, and have clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs thanks to a 98-64 record in the regular season.

They've also tweaked their routine during the five-day break compared with the previous two years, getting some swings against high-velocity pitching machines that mimic MLB pitchers. A few of the team's players also have organized watch parties for the wild-card games in an effort to keep up camaradarie.

But one thing they won't have on Saturday is momentum.

They'll have to create it fast.

"I see some more hunger, I see some more edge. I like that," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Not to say that guys weren't prepared or trying or cared, but there's a different level of intensity."

Live stream: DirecTV Stream

Here's an MLB story from the AP:

The Major League Baseball playoffs are approaching and a Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge matchup in the World Series looms as an enticing October possibility.

But first, the National League needs to get its waterlogged mess of a playoff race out of the way.

While the rooting interests of baseball fans vary widely, there's little doubt MLB and television executives are drooling over the potential matchup between two of the top sluggers of this generation. Ohtani recently became the first player to have 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in one season while Judge hit 58 homers .

On top of that, Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Judge (New York Yankees) play in the nation's top two media markets for two of the sport's most storied franchises.

Of course, there will be 10 other teams trying to block those teams from the Fall Classic. Last season, the Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4 games to 1 for their first title in franchise history.

Here's a look at what's coming:

Who's in the MLB playoffs? Who's still fighting?

The Diamondbacks are going to be big fans of the New York Mets or Atlanta Braves for a few hours on Monday afternoon.

They're just not sure which one.

The National League playoff race comes down to a doubleheader between the Mets and Braves on Monday. The two games were moved to the day after the scheduled end of the regular season because of Hurricane Helene, which washed out two games of the crucial Mets-Braves series last week.

The Mets (88-72) and Braves (88-72) will both make the playoffs if they split the doubleheader. But if there's a sweep, the Diamondbacks (89-73) will sneak into the bracket as the No. 6 seed while the team that gets swept is eliminated.

Once the first game is over, the D-backs will know who they're supporting. They'll go through a light workout at Chase Field on Monday in case their season continues.

The Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers and Padres have already clinched four of the six NL playoff spots. Both the Brewers and Padres will host a Wild Card Series starting Tuesday while the Dodgers and Phillies earned some rest by claiming the top seeds.

The American League's bracket is set. The No. 6 Tigers travel to face the No. 3 Astros while the No. 5 Royals are on the road against the No. 4 Orioles in the two Wild Card Series starting Tuesday. The Yankees and Guardians are the top seeds.

How does baseball's wild-card round work?

The best-of-three wild-card format is in its third season. The format was changed in 2022 from the sudden death one-game format that was in place since 2012 with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic-affected 2020 season.

Six teams each from the American League and National League qualify for the postseason, including the three division winners in each league. The three wild-card teams in each league are the teams with the best record that didn't win their division.

The top two division winners with the best records in each league get a bye and don't have to play in the wild-card round. Those four teams get a few days of rest. Those teams are the Yankees and Guardians in the American League and the Phillies and Dodgers in the National League.

The wild-card round will feature four series: The No. 6 seed will play at the No. 3 seed in both the AL and NL. The No. 5 seed will play at the No. 4 seed.

One big advantage for the higher seed in those wild-card series is they get to host all three games.

Rule changes

Many of baseball's recent rule changes are still in effect during the postseason, including the pitch clock, a ban on extreme infield shifts and a limit to how many times a pitcher can disengage from the rubber. The pitch clock has been a huge change for the sport and widely celebrated, cutting game times by about a half-hour.

There is one rule that doesn't make the postseason cut: the so-called "ghost runner" in extra innings.

During the MLB regular season, if a game goes to extra innings, a runner is placed at second base to start the 10th inning when each team bats. That won't happen in the postseason. Extra innings will be played just like the previous nine.

Betting favorites

The Dodgers are the current betting favorites to win the World Series at +325, followed by the Yankees (+450) and Phillies (+450), according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

How to watch

The wild-card rounds will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. The later rounds will be split between FS1, TruTV, TBS and Fox.

Postseason schedule

Wild-card series: Oct. 1-3

Division series: Oct. 5-12

League Championship series: Oct. 13-22

World Series: Oct. 25-Nov. 2