Dodgers Get a 1 p.m. Playoff Opener, With 101 Degrees in the Forecast

The Padres' sweep set the time, and only one Dodger Stadium playoff game has started hotter: a 103-degree World Series opener.

The Dodgers open their playoff run Saturday afternoon, October 3, under a forecast of 101 degrees in Elysian Park.

First pitch at Dodger Stadium is 1 p.m., right in the hottest part of the day. The start time was set Wednesday night, when the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1, True Blue LA reported. That finished a two-game wild card sweep. Fox has the national broadcast.

That heat would put Saturday in rare company. True Blue LA noted that only one postseason game at Dodger Stadium has started in triple digits. That was the 2017 World Series opener, at 103 degrees.

One caveat on the comparison. The 101 is a forecast high, not a first-pitch reading, and most of the area is expected to sit in the high 90s, so Saturday could land just short.

If you've got tickets, you're sitting in the afternoon sun. If you work Saturdays, first pitch lands on your lunch break.

The Padres decided all of it. Major League Baseball laid out its scenarios Tuesday. If the Cubs had moved on, Cubs-Brewers would have taken the 1 p.m. Saturday window and the Dodgers would have played at 6 p.m. Instead, San Diego goes to Milwaukee for its opener against the Brewers. That one starts at 5:30 p.m. Pacific on FS1, and the Dodgers get the early slot.

The Dodgers, the National League's No. 2 seed, still don't know who they're playing. That gets settled Thursday at 5 p.m. Pacific. The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies meet in a deciding wild card Game 3 at Truist Park in Atlanta. NBC has that game, and Peacock is streaming it.

The Dodgers' Division Series schedule

• Game 1. Saturday, October 3, at Dodger Stadium. First pitch is 1 p.m. on Fox.
• Game 2. Sunday, October 4, at Dodger Stadium. First pitch is 5 p.m. on FS1.
• Game 3. Tuesday, October 6, in Atlanta or Philadelphia. The time hasn't been announced, and it'll air on Fox or FS1.
• Game 4, if necessary. Wednesday, October 7, in Atlanta or Philadelphia. The time hasn't been announced, and it'll air on Fox or FS1.
• Game 5, if necessary. Friday, October 9, at Dodger Stadium. The time hasn't been announced, and it'll air on Fox or FS1.

Start times for Games 3 through 5 haven't been set.

Who's calling it

Joe Davis will be on the call for Fox. True Blue LA reported that Davis will call every Dodgers game this October. On radio, Charley Steiner will call the Dodgers' postseason home games, the site reported.

First pitch is 1 p.m. Saturday. Whoever survives Thursday night in Atlanta gets a cross-country flight and a 101-degree forecast waiting at the other end.

Source: truebluela.com, retrieved October 1, 2026.