The Hartford Yard Goats will open the Eastern League playoffs Tuesday night in Reading, Pennsylvania, with at least one and possibly two games of the best-of-three divisional series scheduled for Dunkin’ Park later in the week.
The Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies faces the Reading Fightin Phils, the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate, for the Northeast Division championship. Game one is set for 6:55 p.m. Tuesday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading. Game two is Thursday, Sept. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Dunkin’ Park, and a decisive Game 3, if necessary, would be played there at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.
The Yard Goats clinched the Northeast Division “first-half” title on June 19, when the Portland Sea Dogs beat second-place Somerset in Maine. Hartford finished the half of the season 39-29 — its first division half-title since 2024.
The Eastern League uses a split-season format, awarding an automatic playoff berth to the team with the best record in each half in each of its two divisions. That guarantee has proven valuable. Hartford has lost most of its games in the second half of the season, entering the final weekend 65-69 overall.
Reading clinched the second-half title with a better overall record, so it has the home-field advantage for the opening playoff game.
The winner advances to the best-of-three Eastern League Championship Series, which begins Sunday, Sept. 20, in either Richmond, Virginia, or Erie, Pennsylvania.
It is Hartford’s second postseason appearance since the franchise moved from New Britain in 2016.
Tickets for the Sept. 17 game and the potential Sept. 18 game are on sale online at yardgoatsbaseball.com and in person at the Click-It-or-Ticket Box Office at Dunkin’ Park.
The Yard Goats have three away games left in the season, which ends Sept. 13.
