Where to watch and what you need to know for the Braves vs. Padres Wild Card series

The Atlanta Braves (WC2, 89-73) will face the San Diego Padres (WC1, 93-69) in the Wild Card round of the MLB postseason.

Here’s your one-stop shop for finding out where to watch the games and who will be suiting up for the Braves.

Consider this your TV guide to the Wild Card round. Let’s dive in.

Where to watch first pitch times:

All three games in the Wild Card round will be broadcast on an ESPN channel. Two on the main channel and one on ESPN 2. If you have ESPN Plus, you can sign up to a TV provider and watch the games through the app.

What you should know about the opponent:

The Padres enter the postseason as one of the hottest teams in baseball. After hovering around .500 at the start of the All-Star break, they were 43-20 the rest of the way. They failed, but their late-season push gave them a chance to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West Division title.

The team features notable established stars such as six-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner Manny Machado, two-time All-Star Fernando Tatis Jr., three-time batting champion Luis Arreaz, four-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts and five-time All-Star -Star Yu Darvish. Outfielder Jackson Merrill is a leading candidate for National League Rookie of the Year.

Starting pitcher Dylan Cease is a strikeout machine, finishing just one punchout behind Atlanta Braves starter Chris Sale as the strikeout leader in the NL.

As a team, the offense had the sixth-best OPS (.744), but the pitching only had the 12th-best ERA (3.86). It’s the opposite situation to the Braves, who have the best ERA (3.49) in MLB but only the 12th-best OPS (.724).

Likely starting pitchers:

Michael King will start Game 1 for the Padres. After serving primarily as a backup with the Yankees, the 29-year-old had his chance to become a big league starter in San Diego. He starts the season in his best month. He had a 1.57 ERA in September.