--- title: How to Watch the 2018 MLB Playoffs Online for Free description: 'The 2018 MLB playoffs are here: Yankees vs. Red Sox, Braves vs. Dodgers, and more. Here''s how to watch baseball postseason online for free.' authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2018-10-04T17:16:37.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T13:24:46.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Baseball - Sports - Sports word_count: 1059 canonical: https://money.com/how-to-watch-2018-mlb-playoffs-online-free/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![New York Yankees v Boston Red Sox](https://img.money.com/2018/10/watch-2018-mlb-playoffs-free-1043788846.jpg) *Rick Porcello of the Boston Red Sox warms up before a game against the New York Yankees on September 30, 2018 at Fenway Park.* Now that the Major League Baseball tiebreaker and Wild Card games are completed, the 2018 MLB playoff series can get fully underway. In the National League, two best-of-five series determine which team will play for the division championship: Colorado Rockies vs. Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers. In the American League, it's the Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros and New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox. If you're wondering how to watch the 2018 MLB playoffs, the answer isn't that simple. The [TV broadcasts](http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp) for the four division series are on at least three different channels, and none of them are free, over-the-air major networks. Still, there are a few different ways to catch the action on TV or via live stream, and yes, there are possible ways to watch the MLB playoffs online for free — at least some of the games. Here is the 2018 MLB playoff game schedule as we now know it, and everything you need to know about how to watch the Rockies vs. Brewers, Braves vs. Dodgers, Indians vs. Astros, and Yankees vs. Red Sox online for free. ## What Channel Is the 2018 MLB Playoffs On? The 2018 MLB division series games are being broadcast on a mix of the following channels: FS1, MLB Network, and TBS. These are all pay TV channels, and some if not all of them are probably included in your package if you subscribe to satellite or cable TV, or have a live streaming TV service. If you don't have cable, you could watch at least a few days worth of the MLB playoffs for free online by registering for a free trial of a streaming TV service with one or more of the channels airing games. The options include [Fubo TV](https://www.fubo.tv/lp/football/?irad=356362&irmp=249354&utm_source=Time&utm_campaign=Time_NFL&utm_content=Money&sharedID=Money), [Hulu Live](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=93xLBvPhAeE&offerid=532303.52&type=3&subid=MYTECMondayNightFootballBTSept18), [DirecTV Now](https://www.directvnow.com/thegoodstuff2#the-full-lineup), [PlayStation Vue](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/channels/), [YouTube TV](https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/), and [Sling TV](https://www.sling.com/#dyn-grid-package-tab-1-25m). As you can see below, YouTube TV is the only streaming TV that includes all three of these channels in its base package. Here's a breakdown of the channels broadcasting the 2018 MLB playoffs available on each service: • [**DirecTV Now:**](https://www.directvnow.com/thegoodstuff2#the-full-lineup) FS1, TBS (and MLB Network only with packages that cost $55 and up per month) • [**Fubo TV:**](https://www.fubo.tv/lp/football/?irad=356362&irmp=249354&utm_source=Time&utm_campaign=Time_NFL&utm_content=Money&sharedID=Money) FS1, TBS, (but [no MLB Network](https://support.fubo.tv/hc/en-us/articles/360016352572-Can-I-watch-the-MLB-Playoffs-on-fuboTV-)) • [**Hulu Live:**](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=93xLBvPhAeE&offerid=532303.52&type=3&subid=MYTECMondayNightFootballBTSept18) FS1, TBS (but no MLB Network) • [**PlayStation Vue:**](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/channels/) FS1, TBS (and MLB Network only with packages that cost $50 and up per month) • [**Sling TV:**](https://www.sling.com/) TBS with "Orange" package, FS1 and TBS with "Blue" package (but no MLB Network with either) • [**YouTube TV:**](https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/) FS1, MLB Network, TBS All of these streaming TV services offer free trials of five to seven days for new subscribers. So it's possible to sign up and live stream the 2018 MLB playoffs online for free for a few days before deciding if you actually want to become a paying subscriber. If you only want to watch baseball online for free, you must remember to cancel the service before the trial period ends. If you don't cancel in time, you'll be billed in full for the first month. Sling TV is the cheapest streaming TV service, with its "Orange" or "Blue" package running $25 per month; you can also get all of the channels included in both packages for a total of $40 per month. Speaking of which, $40 per month is about what you can expect to pay for the base packages for all of the other streaming TV services highlighted above. ## What's the 2018 MLB Playoff Game Schedule Today? Here is the [2018 MLB playoff schedule](http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp) for each game in the National League Division Series and the American League Division Series, along with what channel is broadcasting baseball playoff games on each day: [**Colorado Rockies vs. Milwaukee Brewers**](http://rockies.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp?c_id=col) Game 1: Thursday, October 4, 5:07 p.m. ET on FS1 Game 2: Friday, October 5, 4:15 p.m. ET on FS1 Game 3: Sunday, October 7, 4:37 p.m. ET on MLB Network Game 4 (if necessary): Monday, October 8, Time TBD on FS1 Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, October 10, Time TBD on FS1 [**Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers**](http://braves.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp?c_id=atl) Game 1: Thursday, October 4, 8:37 p.m. ET on MLB Network Game 2: Friday, October 5, 9:37 p.m. ET on FS1 Game 3: Sunday, October 7, 8:07 p.m. ET on FS1 Game 4 (if necessary): Monday, October 8, Time TBD on FS1 Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, October 10, Time TBD on FS1 [**Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros**](http://indians.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp?c_id=cle) Game 1: Friday, October 5, 2:05 p.m. ET on TBS Game 2: Saturday, October 6, 4:37 p.m. ET on TBS Game 3: Monday, October 8, Time TBD on TBS Game 4 (if necessary): Tuesday, October 9, Time TBD on TBS Game 5 (if necessary): Thursday, October 11, Time TBD on TBS [**New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox**](http://yankees.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp?c_id=nyy) Game 1: Friday, October 5, 7:32 p.m. ET on TBS Game 2: Saturday, October 6, 8:15 p.m. ET on TBS Game 3: Monday, October 8, Time TBD on TBS Game 4 (if necessary): Tuesday, October 9, Time TBD on TBS Game 5 (if necessary): Thursday, October 11, Time TBD on TBS ## Can I Live Stream MLB Playoff Games Any Other Way? Yes, there are still other ways to live stream 2018 MLB playoff games. But they require you to pay in some form. The [MLB.TV live stream](https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/2018-postseason) will have a simulcast of the National League games being broadcast on TV on the MLB Network. Live streams of the entire Yankees vs. Red Sox and Astros vs. Indians series are also available online at [MLB.TV](https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/2018-postseason), as well as the [TBS app](https://www.tbs.com/apps). Note, however, that to get these live streams, you must log in with a participating pay TV account. In other words, you generally have to be a subscriber to a satellite or cable TV service that includes the corresponding pay channels in your package. The MLB.TV live stream costs extra on top of your monthly bill, too — you'll pay $24.99 to access its live streams for the 2018 postseason. As for the TBS app, subscribers don't pay extra to live stream the AL division series, but many fans complained that the [app didn't work](https://weei.radio.com/blogs/lucy-burdge/thursday-s-mashup-tbs-gets-bashed-twitter-after-stream-al-wild-card-game) well when they tried to use it to watch the Yankees Wild Card game against the A's this week. *We’ve included affiliate links into this article. 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