The 2022 MLB playoff bracket ended with the Houston Astros beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, in the World Series. This archive includes all 11 series results and all 40 played postseason games, with final scores, game dates and ballparks.
It was the first 12-team postseason. Houston entered in the Division Series, while Philadelphia began in the Wild Card round. Start with the completed bracket, then follow either finalist or another team through the round-by-round game tables.
Final 2022 MLB playoff bracket and series winners
The Houston Astros won the 2022 World Series by beating the Philadelphia Phillies, four games to two. The bracket began with 12 teams and finished with Houston's November 5 championship-clinching win. The table lists every series, with the winning team first and the number of games each team won.
| Round | Series winner | Opponent | Series result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL Wild Card | Cleveland Guardians | Tampa Bay Rays | 2-0 |
| AL Wild Card | Seattle Mariners | Toronto Blue Jays | 2-0 |
| NL Wild Card | Philadelphia Phillies | St. Louis Cardinals | 2-0 |
| NL Wild Card | San Diego Padres | New York Mets | 2-1 |
| AL Division Series | Houston Astros | Seattle Mariners | 3-0 |
| AL Division Series | New York Yankees | Cleveland Guardians | 3-2 |
| NL Division Series | Philadelphia Phillies | Atlanta Braves | 3-1 |
| NL Division Series | San Diego Padres | Los Angeles Dodgers | 3-1 |
| AL Championship Series | Houston Astros | New York Yankees | 4-0 |
| NL Championship Series | Philadelphia Phillies | San Diego Padres | 4-1 |
| World Series | Houston Astros | Philadelphia Phillies | 4-2 |
Houston's route was Seattle, New York and Philadelphia. The Astros entered in the Division Series and won all seven games they played before reaching the World Series. Philadelphia's path began one round earlier: the Phillies eliminated St. Louis, Atlanta and San Diego before meeting Houston. That difference is central to understanding the 2022 bracket.
A result such as 4-2 above means four game wins against two game losses, not four runs against two runs. Below, the game-by-game tables show individual final scores and ballparks. Follow a team's name through successive rounds to find its actual route; an eliminated team's branch ends at that loss.
For the broader championship record, the World Series winners by year guide places Houston's 2022 title alongside other completed seasons. This page concentrates on how that championship was decided, including the opponents and dates leading to the final.
How the new 12-team bracket shaped the 2022 postseason
MLB introduced a 12-team postseason with a best-of-three Wild Card round in 2022. For this particular bracket, eight clubs began in the opening round and four entered directly in the Division Series. The completed results therefore show different starting points for different teams, even though everyone was chasing the same championship.
The practical difference appears in the finalists' routes. Philadelphia had to win two Wild Card games before attempting the three victories needed in the Division Series. Houston began with that three-win task. Both then needed four wins for a pennant and four more for the World Series. Adding those round requirements gives 13 wins for a champion starting in the Wild Card round, compared with 11 for a champion entering in the Division Series.
The four teams with first-round byes
Houston, the Yankees, the Dodgers and Atlanta had first-round byes. They did not play a Wild Card series. Their opening games appear on October 11 in the Division Series tables, while Cleveland, Seattle, Philadelphia and San Diego had already earned advancement through the opening round.
The outcomes differed by league. Both American League bye teams won their Division Series and met in the ALCS. Both National League bye teams lost, leaving Philadelphia and San Diego to contest the NL pennant. Those results describe what happened; they do not prove that the days off helped or hurt any team's performance.
The completed game counts also show the finalists' different workloads. Houston played 13 postseason games: three against Seattle, four against New York and six against Philadelphia. The Phillies played 17: two against St. Louis, four against Atlanta, five against San Diego and six in the final. For the wider rules behind the bracket, read the MLB playoff format guide.
Wild Card Series: Cleveland, Seattle, Philadelphia and San Diego advanced
The opening round began on October 7. Cleveland, Seattle and Philadelphia completed two-game sweeps on October 8, while San Diego needed a third game against the Mets on October 9. Those four winners filled the remaining Division Series places.
Every game in each matchup was played at the same host ballpark. Cleveland hosted Tampa Bay, Toronto hosted Seattle, St. Louis hosted Philadelphia, and the Mets hosted San Diego. Winning a road series here meant advancing before getting a postseason game in front of the winner's own fans.
American League Wild Card game results
Cleveland allowed one run across its two wins against Tampa Bay. Oscar Gonzalez's walk-off home run decided the second game in the 15th inning. The 1-0 clincher was especially narrow, but the outcome sent Cleveland through without a Game 3.
Seattle's two victories looked very different. A 4-0 opener was followed by a 10-9 finish after the Mariners came back from an 8-1 deficit. The Blue Jays' official report records that comeback. Both games were at Rogers Centre, so Seattle secured the series entirely on the road.
| Date | Series game | Final score (visitor first) | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-07 | Game 1 | Rays 1, Guardians 2 | Progressive Field |
| 2022-10-07 | Game 1 | Mariners 4, Blue Jays 0 | Rogers Centre |
| 2022-10-08 | Game 2 | Rays 0, Guardians 1 | Progressive Field |
| 2022-10-08 | Game 2 | Mariners 10, Blue Jays 9 | Rogers Centre |
The winners moved to different opponents: Cleveland faced the Yankees, while Seattle faced Houston. Neither sweep changed the opponent shown on its bracket branch. The clubs eliminated in this round, Tampa Bay and Toronto, have no subsequent 2022 postseason games in the record.
National League Wild Card game results
Philadelphia beat St. Louis 6-3 in the opener and finished the sweep with a 2-0 shutout. The two-game series at Busch Stadium was the beginning of a run that would reach the World Series. It also meant that the Phillies arrived in the Division Series having played one fewer opening-round game than San Diego.
The Padres won the first game at Citi Field 7-1, lost Game 2 by a 7-3 score and then won the deciding game 6-0. That final shutout made San Diego the fourth and last club to advance from the Wild Card round. The Mets' middle-game victory extended the series but did not change the final bracket outcome.
| Date | Series game | Final score (visitor first) | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-07 | Game 1 | Phillies 6, Cardinals 3 | Busch Stadium |
| 2022-10-07 | Game 1 | Padres 7, Mets 1 | Citi Field |
| 2022-10-08 | Game 2 | Padres 3, Mets 7 | Citi Field |
| 2022-10-08 | Game 2 | Phillies 2, Cardinals 0 | Busch Stadium |
| 2022-10-09 | Game 3 | Padres 6, Mets 0 | Citi Field |
Philadelphia next met Atlanta; San Diego next met the Dodgers. Both had already won away from home, and both would get their first home games in the Division Series. When tracing their routes, keep the opening-round 2-0 and 2-1 series totals separate from the individual game scores above.
Division Series: Houston and New York advanced in the AL
The Division Series began on October 11. Houston swept Seattle, the Yankees needed five games against Cleveland, and Philadelphia and San Diego each won in four games. The last Division Series game was played on October 18, when New York clinched its matchup.
AL Division Series game results
Houston won the opener 8-7 on Yordan Alvarez's walk-off three-run home run, then took Game 2 by a 4-2 score. The third game moved to Seattle and ended 1-0 after Jeremy Pena's deciding home run in the 18th inning. Those margins explain why a 3-0 sweep should not be mistaken for three easy games.
The Yankees' series took the longer route. New York won Game 1, Cleveland won Games 2 and 3, and the Yankees answered with victories in Games 4 and 5. Cleveland held a 2-1 series lead after its 6-5 home win, but New York won the next game in Cleveland and then finished the series at Yankee Stadium.
| Date | Series game | Final score (visitor first) | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-11 | Game 1 | Mariners 7, Astros 8 | Minute Maid Park |
| 2022-10-11 | Game 1 | Guardians 1, Yankees 4 | Yankee Stadium |
| 2022-10-13 | Game 2 | Mariners 2, Astros 4 | Minute Maid Park |
| 2022-10-14 | Game 2 | Guardians 4, Yankees 2 | Yankee Stadium |
| 2022-10-15 | Game 3 | Astros 1, Mariners 0 | T-Mobile Park |
| 2022-10-15 | Game 3 | Yankees 5, Guardians 6 | Progressive Field |
| 2022-10-16 | Game 4 | Yankees 4, Guardians 2 | Progressive Field |
| 2022-10-18 | Game 5 | Guardians 1, Yankees 5 | Yankee Stadium |
The dates are the actual played dates. The Yankees' Game 2 appears on October 14 and the clincher on October 18; a schedule archive should preserve those dates instead of compressing the series into consecutive days. Houston finished its sweep on October 15, three calendar days before New York secured the other ALCS place.
NL Division Series game results
Philadelphia split the first two games at Atlanta and then won both games at Citizens Bank Park, 9-1 and 8-3. The Phillies scored 17 runs across those two home victories and closed the series without returning to Atlanta for a fifth game. Their 3-1 result followed the earlier two-game sweep in St. Louis.
San Diego lost the opener at Dodger Stadium, then won three straight. The Padres' clinching 5-3 win included a five-run seventh inning and Jake Cronenworth's two-run single. The official account of that hit preserves the decisive play. San Diego won both home games, 2-1 and 5-3, after tying the series in Los Angeles.
| Date | Series game | Final score (visitor first) | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-11 | Game 1 | Phillies 7, Braves 6 | Truist Park |
| 2022-10-11 | Game 1 | Padres 3, Dodgers 5 | Dodger Stadium |
| 2022-10-12 | Game 2 | Phillies 0, Braves 3 | Truist Park |
| 2022-10-12 | Game 2 | Padres 5, Dodgers 3 | Dodger Stadium |
| 2022-10-14 | Game 3 | Braves 1, Phillies 9 | Citizens Bank Park |
| 2022-10-14 | Game 3 | Dodgers 1, Padres 2 | Petco Park |
| 2022-10-15 | Game 4 | Braves 3, Phillies 8 | Citizens Bank Park |
| 2022-10-15 | Game 4 | Dodgers 3, Padres 5 | Petco Park |
Both National League matchups ended on October 15. The teams that had entered through the Wild Card round, Philadelphia and San Diego, advanced together to the NLCS. Their next series would decide which one continued the four-round route to the World Series.
The pennant races: Astros swept, Phillies won in five
Houston and Philadelphia both clinched their pennants on October 23. The Astros finished a four-game sweep of the Yankees, while the Phillies won their fifth game against San Diego to close a 4-1 series. The World Series matchup was set before either league needed a sixth game.
Houston vs. New York in the ALCS
Houston won the first two games at Minute Maid Park, 4-2 and 3-2, then won both games at Yankee Stadium. The third game was a 5-0 shutout; the fourth finished 6-5. New York did not win a game in the ALCS, and Houston entered the World Series having won seven straight games across its first two rounds.
Jeremy Pena received the ALCS MVP award. The photograph below shows that specific pennant-series trophy, separate from the World Series honor he would receive later. For a fan revisiting the Astros' October, the ALCS clincher marks the completion of the American League branch of the bracket.
| Date | Series game | Final score (visitor first) | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-19 | Game 1 | Yankees 2, Astros 4 | Minute Maid Park |
| 2022-10-20 | Game 2 | Yankees 2, Astros 3 | Minute Maid Park |
| 2022-10-22 | Game 3 | Astros 5, Yankees 0 | Yankee Stadium |
| 2022-10-23 | Game 4 | Astros 6, Yankees 5 | Yankee Stadium |
Houston scored 18 runs and allowed nine across these four games. Those totals describe the sweep's overall scoring, but the two one-run victories show why the individual results still matter. A single close win moved Houston just as far through the series as the five-run shutout did.
Philadelphia vs. San Diego in the NLCS
The Phillies won 2-0 at Petco Park in the opener, and the Padres answered with an 8-5 win. After the series moved to Philadelphia, the Phillies won all three home games: 4-2, 10-6 and 4-3. San Diego never recovered the series lead after falling behind in Game 3.
Bryce Harper hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning of Game 5 and won NLCS MVP. His official award report connects the pennant-clinching swing with the series honor.
| Date | Series game | Final score (visitor first) | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-18 | Game 1 | Phillies 2, Padres 0 | Petco Park |
| 2022-10-19 | Game 2 | Phillies 5, Padres 8 | Petco Park |
| 2022-10-21 | Game 3 | Padres 2, Phillies 4 | Citizens Bank Park |
| 2022-10-22 | Game 4 | Padres 6, Phillies 10 | Citizens Bank Park |
| 2022-10-23 | Game 5 | Padres 3, Phillies 4 | Citizens Bank Park |
Philadelphia reached the final after three successive series wins, unlike Houston's two. The October 23 finish gave both finalists several days before the World Series opener on October 28. The next round would begin in Houston, so Philadelphia's postseason route continued with another road assignment.
World Series: Astros beat Phillies, 4-2
The 2022 World Series began on October 28 and ended on November 5. Philadelphia won the opener in Houston, the Astros tied the series in Game 2, and the Phillies took a 2-1 lead with a 7-0 home victory in Game 3. Houston then won three straight games to take the championship.
The location sequence was Houston for Games 1 and 2, Philadelphia for Games 3 through 5, and Houston again for Game 6. The Astros won two of the three games at Citizens Bank Park before returning home with a 3-2 series lead. That made the November 5 game a chance to finish the title, which Houston did with a 4-1 victory.
| Date | Series game | Final score (visitor first) | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-28 | Game 1 | Phillies 6, Astros 5 | Minute Maid Park |
| 2022-10-29 | Game 2 | Phillies 2, Astros 5 | Minute Maid Park |
| 2022-11-01 | Game 3 | Astros 0, Phillies 7 | Citizens Bank Park |
| 2022-11-02 | Game 4 | Astros 5, Phillies 0 | Citizens Bank Park |
| 2022-11-03 | Game 5 | Astros 3, Phillies 2 | Citizens Bank Park |
| 2022-11-05 | Game 6 | Phillies 1, Astros 4 | Minute Maid Park |
The November dates are part of the actual finished schedule. In particular, the third game was played on November 1. When comparing this archive with an early postseason announcement, use the played dates shown here rather than assuming that the original calendar remained unchanged.
A no-hitter and the championship clincher
Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined to no-hit Philadelphia in Game 4. The official MLB report documents that pitching achievement. The result tied the series at two games each, immediately after Philadelphia's seven-run shutout the previous night.
Houston followed with a 3-2 win in Game 5. That was the final game played in Philadelphia and the only one-run Astros victory in the World Series. The club returned to Minute Maid Park needing one more win, while the Phillies needed to extend the matchup to a seventh game.
Yordan Alvarez hit a three-run homer in Game 6, and Jeremy Pena received the World Series MVP award. Houston's 4-1 clincher ended the season without a Game 7. Pena's World Series award was distinct from the ALCS MVP trophy pictured earlier; he finished the postseason with both series honors.
The final bracket is therefore a 4-2 Astros victory even though Philadelphia led twice during the series. Houston lost the opener and Game 3 but won Games 2, 4, 5 and 6. For a quick reconstruction, read the table as that six-game sequence rather than starting with the championship result and assuming the Astros led throughout.
The completed 2022 postseason calendar
The 2022 MLB postseason included 40 played games from October 7 through November 5. The date ranges below describe the completed rounds. They include the actual World Series dates after the schedule changed, rather than treating an early announcement as the final game record.
| Round | First played date | Last played date | Played games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card Series | October 7 | October 9 | 9 |
| Division Series | October 11 | October 18 | 16 |
| League Championship Series | October 18 | October 23 | 9 |
| World Series | October 28 | November 5 | 6 |
The overlap on October 18 is real: Philadelphia and San Diego began the NLCS on the same date that the Yankees and Cleveland finished the ALDS. Each series had its own schedule, so the postseason did not move through four perfectly separate blocks of dates.
World Series Game 3 moved from October 31 to November 1 because of weather. The MLB postponement announcement explains the change. That is why the game tables leave October 31 empty and put the third game in November. A postponement is not an extra played game and should not inflate the 40-game total.
For each game, the visiting team appears first beside its own score, followed by the home team and its score. The ballpark column confirms the location. The summary bracket instead lists the series winner first, so those two table types serve different purposes.
This is a finished 2022 archive. For the current season's matchups, use the 2026 playoff schedule and bracket guide. For the games on today's calendar, visit MLB games today. Those destinations keep present fixtures separate from the historical dates, final scores and Houston championship recorded here.
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