Sunday's games across baseball are synchronized with all 15 contests starting between 3:05 and 3:20 p.m. ET so by dinner time, MLB's playoff picture should be official. The playoffs begin on Tuesday with the best-of-three wild card series.

The MLB playoffs schedule for the American and National League Wild Card Round, Division Series, and the Championship Series , as well as the World Series.

This is a far cry from the rest of the MLB postseason. The Divisional Series are best-of-five series, and the Championship Series and World Series both consist of a best-of-seven series format. Which begs the question: Why is the Wild Card round a best-of-three?

The Mariners on Friday announced that, beginning next season, Major League Baseball will take over the distribution of their game telecasts and streaming, roles previously fulfilled by ROOT Sports. Essentially,