The Yankees’ postseason run had seen them erupt for nine runs in both of their Wild Card Series wins over the Red Sox, but they were completely shut down by Drew Rasmussen in Game 1 of the Division Series. The Rays’ ace tossed eight shutout innings and had a no-hitter going through 7.2 innings before Austin Wells ripped a double down the line to finally break that up… only to get thrown out trying to extend it into a triple. Gerrit Cole took the hard luck loss allowing a solo homer to Jonathan Aranda
in his five innings of work, and that was your ballgame.
Elsewhere, the Division Series kicked off across the league, so let’s see what the rest of the field accomplished on Saturday night.
AL Division Series Game 1
Chicago White Sox 3, Cleveland Guardians 0
(Chicago leads, 1-0)
Call it divine intervention, but these White Sox are looking to go on a deep run after sweeping the Astros in the Wild Card Series and they went out and stole Game 1 from Cleveland on the road. Parker Messick enjoyed a fabulous first full season for the Guardians, pitching to a 2.56 ERA in 186.1 innings, but his Postseason debut didn’t go as well. He managed to work around a pair of baserunners in the first inning and then cruised through the second and third, but in the fourth Miguel Vargas led off with a single bringing Munetaka Murakami to the plate. Messick gave him a first-pitch sinker up and in the zone, and Murakami deposited it 440 feet out to right field.
That would be all the run support Chicago’s pitching staff needed as they worked their second bullpen game of the playoffs well enough to shut Cleveland out. Hagen Smith was the opener and provided 2.2 innings, issuing three straight walks in the third to end his outing before Bryan Hudson entered and got him out of that jam. Jordan Hicks took over to start the bottom of the fourth and got two quick outs before issuing a walk of his own, passing the baton over to Anthony Kay. Travis Bazzana greeted him by ripping a double out to right field to put runners in scoring position, and Kay walked Austin Hedges to again load the bases with two outs before Brayan Rocchio bailed him out by flipping a middle-middle sweeper harmlessly into the glove of Braden Montgomery.
Kay would get through the fifth without further incident, turning the ball over to Grant Taylor to start the sixth. Taylor delivered on some postseason magic, pitching four shutout innings to more than earn the save going deeper into a game than he had all season by more than a full inning. Taylor struck out six along the way and allowed just a pair of hits, a double and a single in the sixth and seventh respectively. Along the way, his offense gave him some more breathing room as Kyle Teel walked in the seventh and Colton Montgomery doubled to bring him home and make it 3-0. Taylor had it well in control though, ending his marvelous appearance by striking out the side in the ninth.
NL Division Series Game 1
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Atlanta Braves 3
(Los Angeles leads, 1-0)
The two-time defending champs opened up their October with Tarik Skubal on the mound, and their deadline acquisition delivered six strong innings of one-run ball. Sean Murphy was the only one able to do any damage to the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, launching a home run to lead off the sixth, but despite a couple of walks issued after his at-bat the rest of the Braves couldn’t rally to hang a crooked number on Skubal. They needed a bigger spark too, because LA was already up when Skubal closed out his night and the lead was about to grow further.
Atlanta chose to go with a bullpen game after needed to go three games deep to best the Phillies in the Wild Card Series, and Dylan Dodd was their choice for the opener. Dodd was one of their best relievers this year, pitching to a 2.54 ERA in 49.2 innings, and he gave them a shot to go toe-to-toe with the champs by tossing three shutout innings. Unfortunately, the pitchers that followed him couldn’t say the same. Victor Mederos was tasked with the fourth inning once Dodd’s day was done, and after getting Will Smith to fly out he walked Freddie Freeman on four pitches bringing Teoscar Hernández to the plate. Hernández got a cutter over the middle of the plate and punished it, putting the Dodgers up 2-0.
After Atlanta answered with their run, the Dodgers were back at it in the bottom of the sixth. Hernández singled ahead of Kyle Tucker, playing his first postseason game for Los Angeles after a season to forget following his massive four-year, $240 million contract in free agency. Tucker got hot in September though, and he started his October off with a two-run bomb to extend the lead. Max Muncy stepped up two batters later and got involved in the home run parade with a solo shot to make it 5-1 Dodgers.
The game wasn’t over yet, however, as Atlanta gave Dodgers closer Tanner Scott their best shot. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the finale frame with a single and Ozzie Albies crushed the first pitch he saw for a two-run blast to bring the Braves within two, but Scott calmed down from there. He recorded two consecutive outs before Dave Roberts went back to his bullpen and got Evan Phillips to face Mauricio Dubón. Phillips tossed every pitch he knew down and away to Dubón but he laid off enough to work a lengthy walk and took second base on defensive indifference. Phillips finally closed out the game by getting Austin Riley to ground out, securing the 1-0 series lead for LA.
NL Division Series Game 1
Milwaukee Brewers 3, San Diego Padres 2
(Milwaukee leads, 1-0)
The Brewers were heavy favorites for their opening game of the postseason with Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski on the mound, but The Miz wasn’t his usual sharp self in his first career postseason start. The Padres struck first with three straight singles in the second inning to plate the first run of the game, and brought home another as Jake Cronenworth grounded out to first for a fielder’s choice with the throw home coming late.
Milwaukee had their ace’s back though, getting those runs back in the third inning. Facing Robbie Ray, the Brew Crew got a leadoff single ahead of Jackson Chourio, who launched one for a game-tying two run blast. After a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases, the Padres were forced to pull Ray after just 2.2 innings, but Milwaukee couldn’t convert any more as Bradgley Rodriguez escaped the jam with a groundout.
Misiorowski only lasted four innings in this game, but the Brewers’ bullpen held firm despite needing to get 15 more outs. Milwaukee used five relievers to get it done, and they allowed a fair bit of traffic to exist with three hits and three free passes, but the Padres couldn’t convert going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position overall. Meanwhile, in the seventh inning facing Adrian Morejon with two outs William Contreras brought the crowd to their feet with a long ball to straightaway center.
The two home runs were just barely enough for Milwaukee to take this one, Trevor Megill coming on for the four-out save, but both sides had to draw deep into their bullpen to try and take the opening game.
