The ALDS did not get off to a particularly good start for the Yankees, as they were crushed by the Blue Jays 10-1 in Game 1. The game was close for a long while, but an inability to capitalize from the Yankees’ offense eventually came back to haunt them as Toronto pulled away late. Now, the Yankees will need to rally from a 1-0 series deficit for the second-straight round.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the three other LDS matchups got underway. Let’s take a look back at what happened in the series openers.
National League Division Series Game 1
Brewers 9, Cubs 3
(Milwaukee leads series 1-0)
The Brewers jumped all over Cubs pitching early, blowing Chicago out to draw first blood in the NL Central grudge match.
The Cubs seemingly got off to the perfect start. Leading off the game, Michael Busch homered on just the fourth pitch of the day from Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta. However, that joy wouldn’t last very long.
In the bottom of the first, the Brewers started their day with three consecutive doubles, scoring two runs. While Matthew Boyd then got one out, Milwaukee then picked a couple more hits, with a walk and an error mixed in. By the time the inning ended, they had batted around and had put up a six spot. Led by Caleb Durbin and Jackson Chourio, they added three more the following inning and never looked back from there.
Chourio had probably the biggest day for the Brewers, driving home three runs on three hits, while Peralta ended up going 5.2 innings, allowing just two runs, while striking out nine. Worryingly for Milwaukee though, Chourio did exit the game after one of his big hits with a hamstring issue. MRIs turned up clean and Chourio was upbeat after the game, but him missing any time would be a big blow.
Dodgers 5, Phillies 3
(Los Angeles leads series 1-0)
Teoscar Hernández’s three-run homer in the seventh inning flipped the game on its head, as the Dodgers rallied to win a game they had trailed for most of.
The Phillies struck first, as Hernández was involved in the action then too. His misplay/misread of a J.T. Realmuto hit in the second inning allowed it to roll all the way to the wall. Both runners that were on base scored, as Realmuto got into third with a triple. A sacrifice fly a couple batters later plated the Phillies’ catcher to score as well.
Despite that hot start, the Phillies didn’t manage to do much else against Shohei Ohtani, who struck out nine in six innings. That ended up costing Philadelphia.
Cristopher Sánchez got through the first five innings for the Phillies scoreless, but he was eventually chased in the sixth inning, having put a couple runners on with two outs, who then scored on a Enrique Hernández double. However, LA’s big blow came an inning later, when David Robertson was brought in with a couple runners on, but couldn’t pull off his “Houdini” act, allowing the big home run.
American League Divisional Series Game 1
Tigers 3, Mariners 2 (11 innings)
(Detroit leads series 1-0)
Zach McKinstry’s go-ahead single in the 11th innings ended up being the difference as the Tigers rallied for a Game 1 victory.
With just five runs total, this game wasn’t an offensive explosion, and for a long while, it really looked like the Tigers weren’t going to do anything on that front. While he did have to work around some trouble, Mariners’ starter George Kirby got through the first four innings scoreless, at which point he was given a led. Julio Rodríguez’s lead-off homer in the bottom of the fourth opened the scoring, and was actually Seattle’s first home playoff run since they played the Yankees in the 2001 ALCS.
Detroit then did manage some offense off Kirby, as Kerry Carpenter answered back with a two-run homer in the fifth. However, the M’s struck back in the sixth, with J-Rod driving home another, this time on an RBI single. Both bullpens did their jobs, and eventually we were off to extra innings.
Neither team even put on a runner in the 10th, but Spencer Torkelson then drew a walk to start the 11th, and moved to second on a Carlos Vargas wild pitch. That put him into position to score on McKinstry’s hit, breaking the deadlock. Rodríguez gave Seattle some hope in the bottom of the inning with a two-out single, but the Mariners couldn’t capitalize, sealing their fate.
