Braves vs. Reds schedule: MLB playoffs live stream, TV channel, start times for NL Wild Card Series

The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds will begin their best-of-three Wild Card Series on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta. The Braves are the No. 2 seed in the National League, while the Reds earned the No. 7 seed. The Braves moved into first place on Aug. 17 and cruised to their third consecutive NL East title. The Reds had a more difficult path to the postseason. They had to win 11 of their final 14 games to storm to October.

Here is how you can watch their entire best-of-three Wild Card Series matchup. All three games will be played at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Date Start time Starting pitchers TV Odds (via William Hill Sportsbook)

Game 1

Wed., Sept. 30

12 p.m. ET

LHP Max Fried vs. RHP Trevor Bauer

ESPN

ATL -130; CIN +120; O/U: 7.5

Game 2

Thurs., Oct. 1

12 p.m. ET

TBA vs. RHP Luis Castillo

ESPN

TBD

Game 3*

Fri., Oct. 2

3 p.m.

TBA vs. RHP Sonny Gray

ESPN

TBD

* if necessary

The Braves have not yet announced their postseason rotation beyond Fried, but it is expected to be rookie righty Ian Anderson in Game 2 and fellow righty Kyle Wright in Game 3. Now here are three things to know heading into the Braves vs. Reds Wild Card Series matchup.

Top offense vs. top rotation

The Braves scored 5.80 runs per game during the regular season, finishing just behind the Dodgers (5.82 runs per game) for the title of top offense in baseball. Freddie Freeman is an MVP candidate, Ronald Acuna Jr. is a megastar, and others like Adam Duvall and Marcell Ozuna had excellent seasons. Atlanta's lineup is very good and very deep.

The Reds, meanwhile, led baseball in starting pitching WAR and by a good margin too. In a short postseason series Bauer-Castillo-Gray is as formidable as it gets. Cincinnati's bullpen can be hit or miss, so the Reds will need their starters to be great and pitch deep into games. In October, I want to see greatness, and this series features a great offense and a great rotation. Fun!

Rematch of 1995 NLCS

These two franchises have been around basically forever -- the Braves spent time in Boston and Milwaukee before settling in Atlanta -- but they have only met in the postseason once before. That was the 1995 NLCS, which Atlanta swept in four games. It was a decidedly one-sided series:

• Game 1: Braves 2, Reds 1 in 11 innings
• Game 2: Braves 6, Reds 2
• Game 3: Braves 5, Reds 2
• Game 4: Braves 6, Reds 0

The Braves started three Hall of Famers (Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz) and Steve Avery in the series and held the Reds to five runs in four games. Mike Devereaux was named NLCS MVP after providing the game-winning hit in extra-innings in Game 1 and hitting a three-run home run in Game 4.

Of course, what happened in 1995 or any year doesn't matter in 2020. Different teams with different players in different years. Trying to predict a best-of-three series is basically impossible in this game. Trying to do so using past history doesn't make it any more precise. These are two great teams and the series could go either way. 

One team will finally win a postseason round

Obvious statement is obvious, but it is a big deal. Neither the Braves nor the Reds have won a postseason round in a very long time. The Braves have not won a postseason round since the 2001 NLDS. For the Reds, you have to go back to the 1995 NLDS for their last postseason round victory. To be clear, this includes Wild Card Games. Neither team has advanced a postseason round in a very long time. One of these two clubs will end that drought this year.