In less than a fortnight, the Major League Baseball playoff field has shrunk from 12 teams to four, with only the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners left chasing the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers are vying to be the league’s first repeat World Series winner since 2000. There’s even more distant history at stake for the other three clubs. The Blue Jays haven’t reached the World Series since winning back-to-back titles in 1992-93. The Brewers and Mariners are among the five current franchises without a World Series title. Seattle has never even won a pennant.

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The Blue Jays-Mariners ALCS will begin Sunday in Toronto, with the Brewers-Dodgers NLCS opening Monday in Milwaukee.

Game times

All times ET. Subject to change.

American League Championship Series

Game 1, Sunday: at Toronto, 8:03 p.m. (FOX)

Game 2, Monday: at Toronto, 5:03 p.m. (FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes)

Game 3, Wednesday: at Seattle, TBD (FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes)

Game 4, Thursday: at Seattle, TBD (FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes)

Game 5*, Friday: at Seattle, TBD (FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes)

Game 6*, Sunday, Oct. 19: at Toronto, TBD(FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes)

Game 7*, Monday, Oct. 20: at Toronto, TBD (FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes)

National League Championship Series

Game 1, Monday: at Milwaukee, 8:08 p.m. TBD (TBS)

Game 2, Tuesday: at Milwaukee, 8:08 p.m. (TBS)

Game 3, Thursday: at Los Angeles, TBD (TBS)

Game 4, Friday: at Los Angeles, TBD (TBS)

Game 5*, Saturday, Oct. 18: at Los Angeles, TBD (TBS)

Game 6*, Monday, Oct. 20: at Milwaukee, TBD (TBS)

Game 7*, Tuesday, Oct. 21: at Milwaukee, TBD (TBS)

* – if necessary

Home-field advantage holds sway in today’s game. This season, the Blue Jays were second in the majors in home winning percentage, the Brewers and Dodgers tied for fourth, and the Mariners were sixth. But only the Brewers were better than a game over .500 on the road.

The home-field edge is even more palpable in the postseason. Home crowds aren’t so much seen and heard as they are felt — buzzing from first pitch to final out, and exploding into ballpark-shaking euphoria in big moments. Even the viewer watching the scene on a screen savors the taste of the stadium atmosphere as crowd no