A postseason rematch featuring two elite clubs. MLB’s hottest team on the road against a divisional rival. Two playoff contenders facing off at a picturesque venue.
There are plenty of elite matchups this week across the Major Leagues. Here are five series to watch for the week of Aug. 10.
Red Sox at Blue Jays
4 games (Monday-Thursday)
Head-to-head: The Blue Jays are 6-3 against the Red Sox in 2026, winning two of three in late April at Rogers Centre before pulling off a three-game sweep in mid-June at Fenway Park. Of course, those series came before Boston’s turnaround, including a franchise record-tying 15-game win streak, which ended just before the Red Sox won two of three from the Blue Jays at Fenway in late July. This will be the final series of the season between the two rival clubs.
Storyline: Can the hottest team in baseball keep it going in a four-game divisional road set against the defending American League champs? Sure, the fifth-place Blue Jays haven’t been nearly as fearsome as they were in 2025, but they’ve had success against the Red Sox and are coming off road series wins over the Astros and Phillies. That might not be enough to overcome a scorching Boston club that had another lengthy winning streak going before back-to-back losses to the Athletics on Saturday and Sunday.
Watch out for:Ceddanne Rafaela’s hot bat. The Red Sox center fielder slugged four home runs during Boston’s three-game sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles and has simply kept on hitting. Rafaela is hitting .295 with an .845 OPS since July 1 and is batting .326 (15-for-46) over his past 10 games. With 16 steals and Gold Glove-caliber outfield defense, Rafaela has amassed 5.1 bWAR this season, fourth among AL position players. And he’s just one of several red-hot Red Sox hitters.
Mariners at Yankees
3 games (Tuesday-Thursday)
Head-to-head: These two clubs haven’t faced off since the first week of the season, when they met for three games at T-Mobile Park. Cal Raleigh walked it off for Seattle in the ninth inning of the March 30 series opener, but the Yankees won the next two games to take the set.
Storyline: Will either of these teams make a move towards a division title? As of Saturday, both clubs were within striking distance in their divisions, with the Mariners behind the Astros and Rangers in the AL West and the Yankees 5 1/2 games back of the Rays in the East. But the Yanks currently hold the AL’s top Wild Card spot with a large cushion between them and a crowded field of teams on the outside looking in — including the Mariners. Either team might make a move in the standings during what could be a pivotal series.
Watch out for: Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr., who has been impressive since being called up to make his Major League debut on Tuesday. Lombard is batting .294 with a 1.047 OPS through his first five big league games, homering in his debut game and again in Saturday’s win over the Braves. MLB Pipeline’s No. 20 overall prospect is making a big early impact at a premium position.
Phillies at Twins
3 games (Thursday-Sunday)
Head-to-head: This is the only regular-season series of the year between these two Interleague rivals, who last matched up in the final series of the 2025 campaign. The Phillies won two of three at Citizens Bank Park, including a walk-off 2-1 win in the regular season’s final game.
Storyline: Thursday’s series opener will be played at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, the first Major League game there since a Cubs-Reds contest in 2022. The iconic movie site has undergone renovations and is set to host a pair of postseason contenders for the first game of the series (7:30 p.m. ET, Netflix). The Phillies are currently tied for the second National League Wild Card berth, while the Twins are 1 1/2 games out of a postseason spot. The two teams will have an off-day on Friday before resuming the series on Saturday at Target Field.
Watch out for: Phillies second baseman Luis Arraez. Acquired from the Giants in a major Trade Deadline deal, the three-time league batting champion has provided a jolt of energy for a Philadelphia club in need. He had three multihit games in his first five contests for the Phils, for whom he is filling the cleanup role. Arraez has a chance to make an impact in this series against the Twins, the club that signed him out of Venezuela in 2013 and helped him reach the Major Leagues in 2018.
Brewers at Dodgers
4 games (Thursday-Sunday)
Head-to-head: When these two clubs met for a three-game set at American Family Field in late May, Milwaukee won the series opener 5-1 before dropping the next two games. It was a continuation of the Dodgers’ dominance against the Brewers: L.A. swept the Crew in the 2025 NLCS and went on to win the World Series.
Storyline: Can the Brewers prove they’re MLB’s best team? They have the best record in the big leagues at 74-44, but they’ve fallen short repeatedly against the Dodgers in the past and didn’t make as big a Trade Deadline acquisition as L.A. did with lefty Tarik Skubal (whom the Brewers also pursued). The real test will come if the two clubs match up again in the postseason, but winning a four-game series at Dodger Stadium would be a major development for a Milwaukee club used to being counted out.
Watch out for: A pair of aces. Skubal, who will make his Dodger Stadium debut on Monday against the Royals, is currently lined up to face the Brewers in Sunday’s series finale. He took the loss against the Cubs in his first game as a Dodger last Tuesday at Wrigley Field, allowing two runs in six innings and striking out eight. Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, who pitched Sunday against Minnesota and became the first pitcher this season to reach 200 strikeouts, is tentatively scheduled to start against the Dodgers on Saturday. While the two star pitchers likely won’t face each other, they still have must-watch status any time they’re on the mound.
D-backs at Braves
3 games (Friday-Sunday)
Head-to-head: It’s been a while since these two NL contenders squared off. In an early April series at Chase Field in Phoenix, the Braves started strong with a 17-2 win and a 2-0 shutout victory before the D-backs earned a series split with a 2-1 win and a 6-5 walk-off win in 10 innings.
Storyline: Can Arizona cause some more chaos this postseason? The D-backs haven’t been to the playoffs since 2023, when they knocked out the Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies to reach the World Series before falling there to the Rangers in five games. In a tie with Philadelphia for the NL’s second Wild Card spot at 63-56, Arizona has played solid baseball of late, owning a 14-9 (.609) record since the All-Star break and sitting in second place in the NL West. With a slight lead over the division-rival Padres for a playoff spot, the D-backs can gain some ground despite a tough task in Atlanta.
Watch out for:Ronald Acuña Jr., who was activated from the injured list in late July after suffering his second left hamstring strain of the season on June 9. He has a .904 OPS and four home runs in eight games in August, including three dingers in his past four contests. Acuña has provided a major spark for a Braves team that won eight straight games shortly after his activation, and he’s always a threat to leave the yard.
