Major League Baseball has locked in the schedule for the 122nd World Series: Game 1 goes Friday, Oct. 23, at American Family Field in Milwaukee, with the full seven-game format confirmed by MLB.com. The only thing left to fill in is the opponent, which comes down to tonight's do-or-die Game 6 between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians, with Tampa Bay leading the ALCS 3-2 and one win from the pennant.

The Brewers earned home-field advantage the old-fashioned way: a franchise-record 103-59 regular season, the best mark in baseball for the second year running, well clear of both the Rays (98-64) and the Guardians (85-77). That edge puts Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Milwaukee, with the American League side hosting Games 3 through 5 if the series goes that far.

How Milwaukee got here

The Brewers dispatched the Padres in four games in the NLDS, then swept the defending-champion Dodgers in the NLCS — a result few saw coming given Los Angeles' star power. Outfielder Jake Bauers, a Southern California native, was named NLCS MVP after hitting .286 with a homer, six RBIs and a .983 OPS across the series, capped by a two-run double in Thursday's 6-4 clincher.

WE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO WIN

Bauers didn't hide that last year's sweep at the Dodgers' hands still stung. "The way they celebrated" after eliminating Milwaukee in 2025 was "a little bit eye-opening," he said, adding it became motivation to "keep going until there's not another game left to play," according to CBS Sports' account of his comments. It is the first LCS MVP award in franchise history.

This marks only the second World Series trip for Milwaukee, and the first since 1982, when the Brewers fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. The club remains one of just five MLB franchises never to have won it all.

Tonight's Rays-Guardians Game 6 was already a tense one before the Series schedule even dropped: Tampa Bay can clinch its first pennant since 2020 with a win, while Cleveland is fighting to force a decisive Game 7. Whichever club survives will have almost no time to catch its breath — Game 1 in Milwaukee is barely 72 hours away.

All seven potential games will air on FOX and FOX Deportes, streaming on FOX One, with first pitch each night set for 8 p.m. ET. If it goes the distance, Game 7 falls on Halloween.