Red Sox win the 2018 World Series

Keep track of October baseball all in one place

Updated Oct 29, 2018, 4:50 AM UTC

World Series - Boston Red Sox v Los Angeles Dodgers - Game Five

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Boston Red Sox were the best team in baseball in 2018, winning 108 games during the regular season. Then they went 11-3 in the postseason against teams that won a combined 295 games. In the World Series Boston finished off the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, the third straight series the Red Sox clinched on the road.

World Series results

Tuesday, Oct. 23
Game 1: Red Sox 8, Dodgers 4

Wednesday, Oct. 24
Game 2: Red Sox 4, Dodgers 2

Friday, Oct. 26
Game 3: Dodgers 3, Red Sox 2 (18)

Saturday, Oct. 27
Game 4: Red Sox 9, Dodgers 6

Sunday, Oct. 28
Game 5: Red Sox 5, Dodgers 1

Postseason preview

We got a nice head start on postseason baseball with the unprecedented double tiebreaker on Oct. 1, but now that the National League is all settled we get the real thing, with four weeks of playoff baseball to entertain us for the remainder of October.

For the second season in a row we have three 100-win teams, lead by a juggernaut Boston Red Sox team that set a franchise record with 108 victories. They were joined by the Houston Astros (103 wins) and the New York Yankees (100), the first time that there have been three 100-win teams in the same league.

Seven teams from last year’s playoffs are back, including both World Series participants — the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Milwaukee Brewers are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2011 and are the top seed in the National League. Other playoff droughts erased are the young Atlanta Braves (last playoffs: 2013) and the surging Oakland Athletics (2014).

Teams

American League

Boston Red Sox (108-54)
Houston Astros (103-59)
Cleveland Indians (91-71)
New York Yankees (100-62)
Oakland Athletics (97-65)

National League

Milwaukee Brewers (96-67)
Los Angeles Dodgers (92-71)
Atlanta Braves (90-72)
Chicago Cubs (95-68)
Colorado Rockies (91-72)

Format

Both Wild Card Games are single-elimination, with the National League starting things off on Tuesday, Oct. 2, followed by the American League on Wednesday, Oct. 3. The Division Series are best-of-five with a 2-2-1 format. The League Championship Series and World Series are both best-of-seven formats in a 2-3-2 schedule.

Home field advantage goes to the team with the best record, though a Wild Card winner cannot have home field advantage in the League Championship Series. The most recent example of this was the 2015 NLCS, when the 90-win, division-winning Mets had home field advantage over the 97-win, Wild Card Cubs.