One side of the 2021 MLB playoff bracket is almost set in stone with five days left in the regular season as the National League postseason picture comes into focus.

The San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals have locked up four of the five National League postseason berths. The Atlanta Braves are on the verge of clinching the final postseason spot.

The NL playoffs start with the wild-card game on Wednesday, Oct. 6. The Cardinals, baseball's hottest team with a 17-game winning streak, are guaranteed to be the road team in the elimination contest. St. Louis will likely visit the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have a 13-game edge atop the wild-card standings and trail San Francisco by two games in the NL West.

San Francisco is given an 85% chance by FanGraphs to win the division title. The Giants have two more games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who own the worst record in baseball and are 2-15 against the Giants this season. The NL West champ will be the NL’s No. 1 seed.

Assuming the standings hold, the Cardinals will visit the Dodgers for the opportunity to face San Francisco in the NLDS. The Giants have clinched a better record than any American League team, giving them home-field advantage through the World Series.

The NL East champion is also undecided, though that could change quickly. Atlanta has a 3.5-game edge over the Philadelphia Phillies with only five games left on the regular season schedule. The Braves are estimated to have a 96.1% chance of winning the division.

The Milwaukee Brewers will face the NL East champs, likely the Braves, in the NLDS. Milwaukee is locked in as the NL’s No. 2 seed, giving the Brewers home-field advantage in their first series.

Milwaukee, Atlanta or Philadelphia would have home-field advantage in the NLCS if a wild-card team beats the NL West winner in the NLDS.

Both National League Division Series are scheduled to start Friday, Oct. 8. The NLCS starts Saturday, Oct. 16.

Lorenzo Cain Brewers Cubs
Lorenzo Cain #6 of the Milwaukee Brewers hits a run-scoring single in the 1st inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 12, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
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