Action in the 2026 MLB playoffs picked back up on Saturday as Game 1 got underway in all four Division Series matchups. Historically, since this best-of-five format was introduced in 1995, taking the opening game leads to a series victory 73% of the time, with 32% of those matchups resulting in a clean sweep. While a Game 1 triumph doesn’t absolutely seal a Division Series ticket, it certainly provides a massive leg up.
Below is a recap of the final outcomes and the timetable for Saturday’s postseason games:
To break down all of Saturday’s Game 1 drama, we have identified one winner and one loser from each of the four contests. Check out our definitive and undeniable analysis below.
<h2> Winner: Drew Rasmussen </h2><h3> Tampa Bay ace flirts with postseason no-hitter to shut down Yankees </h3><p>Serving as the 31-year-old anchor of the Tampa Bay starting rotation, Drew Rasmussen has delivered ace-level performances over the past two years. He reached new personal heights this season, posting an ERA under 3.00, a FIP below 2.00, and pacing the American League with a 5.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 172 frames. He is well on his way to a top-tier finish in the AL Cy Young balloting, an honor he has fully earned. </p><p>Building beautifully upon his outstanding regular-season campaign, Rasmussen delivered a masterful performance against the Yankees during Game 1 of their ALDS matchup: </p>
By fanning 10 batters, he matched a franchise postseason record for the Rays. Even more impressive was how he fooled the opposition, generating an incredible 23 empty swings out of 54 attempts, good for a 43% whiff rate.
The right-hander established his dominance right from the start. During the top of the fourth, immediately after Jonathan Aranda put Tampa Bay ahead with a home run, Rasmussen delivered a highly efficient nine-pitch shutdown frame. Although he issued two walks during the game, he at one point retired 15 consecutive hitters and kept a no-hit bid intact until the eighth inning. With two outs in the eighth, Yankees catcher Austin Wells broke up the history maker with a hard double down the line, but was subsequently thrown out trying a reckless advance to third.
Making his debut start in the playoffs, Rasmussen racked up a stellar Game Score of 88. That is peak performance precisely when it matters most, providing exactly what Tampa Bay required to secure a 1-0 series advantage. — Dayn Perry
<h2> Loser: Austin Wells </h2><h3> New York backstop chooses the worst moment to test his baserunning speed </h3><p>For a brief moment in the eighth inning of Game 1, Austin Wells looked like the hero. With two outs and the Rays clinging to a slim 1-0 lead, Rasmussen's no-hit bid was still alive until Wells crushed a 1-0 sinker down the right-field line at 107.8 mph. If he had remained at second base, he likely would have forced Rasmussen out of the game. Rays skipper Kevin Cash might have brought in a left-hander to match up against Ryan McMahon, prompting Yankees manager Aaron Boone to counter with Giancarlo Stanton as a pinch-hitter to gain the platoon edge in a high-leverage situation. </p><p>Instead, Wells erased all of those strategic options by making an inexplicable dash to turn his double into a triple. The resulting play was entirely predictable, in stark contrast to his shocking decision to run: </p><p>As a catcher, Wells naturally fits the typical physical profile of his position, ranking in just the 16th percentile in sprint speed across Major League Baseball. In fact, third base coach Luis Rojas of the Yankees was already signaling him to hold up before he had even arrived at second base: </p>Attempting such a risky advance with two outs while trailing by a single run in the late stages of the game makes this baserunning blunder completely indefensible.
“With two outs, I was just trying to spark some offense and stay aggressive when we weren’t getting much going,” Wells explained to the press postgame, as reported by SNY. “Clearly, I wish I had ended up safe or just stayed at second base.”
Wells failed to record a single triple during the regular season, and has managed only two over his 382 career major-league appearances. He selected the absolute worst moment to try and boost that modest total. — Dayn Perry
<h2> Winner: Milwaukee's Home Run Power</h2><h3>After a regular season lacking in long balls, the bats came alive in the opener</h3><p>During the regular season, the Brewers struggled to hit for power, finishing tied for 28th in the majors with a mere 154 home runs. Even though they boasted the finest record in baseball, their glaring vulnerability was this lack of over-the-fence pop. That deficiency could have been costly, as postseason success often relies heavily on the long ball. Yet, during Game 1 of the NLDS against San Diego, Milwaukee's hitters tapped into the exact power source they had been missing. </p><p>The offensive spark began in the third inning when sensational young star Jackson Chourio belted a game-tying, two-run shot off San Diego starter Robbie Ray. Throughout the regular season, Chourio posted an incredible 1.248 OPS when swinging at the opening pitch of an at-bat, and he stuck to that formula here, jumping all over a slider from Ray and launching it 420 feet: </p><p>With that monumental blast, the 22-year-old phenom became Milwaukee's franchise leader in postseason home runs, totaling five. </p>A 2-2 deadlock persisted until the bottom of the seventh frame. Facing a full count with two outs, William Contreras anticipated a fourth consecutive sinker from tough left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon and delivered this clutch swing:
The resulting 406-foot blast gave the Brewers a 3-2 advantage against one of the most formidable bullpens in the league.
Milwaukee’s own bullpen then took care of business, protecting the narrow lead on an evening when starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski was not at his sharpest. Ultimately, the timely power surge from the Brewers made any pitching hiccups irrelevant. — Dayn Perry
<h2> Losers: Robbie Ray and the Roof at American Family Field</h2><h3>While one pitcher struggled to limit damage, the stadium dome sparked a huge debate</h3><p>With their rotation depth thin beyond the front duo of Michael King and Nick Pivetta, San Diego faces real pitching challenges. Trade deadline pickup Robbie Ray joined the club after demonstrating decent run-suppression abilities with San Francisco earlier in his age-34 season. Still, underlying metrics suggested trouble, and his performance indeed slipped once he put on a Padres uniform. He headed into the postseason carrying a lackluster 4.69 FIP alongside a subpar 1.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio. </p><p>True to those concerning trends, Ray's Game 1 start was brief and rocky, as he surrendered two runs on four hits over just 2 ⅔ frames while walking two and striking out one. His inability to provide length forced San Diego skipper Craig Stammen to heavily tax his bullpen right from the start. For a team so dependent on its relief depth, draining those arms in a series-opening defeat is far from ideal—a direct consequence of Ray's rough outing. </p><p>As for the other designated loser, the footage speaks for itself: </p>Based on the unique ground rules at American Family Field, any ball hit into fair territory remains in play if it contacts the ceiling, its structural trusses, or supporting cables—which is exactly what occurred. The real debate centers on whether Ty France’s deep fly ball would have cleared the fence without that overhead interference. The ball flew off his bat at 105.3 mph with a steep 49-degree launch angle. Statcast history shows that no batted ball with those exact parameters has ever gone for a home run. However, even after hitting the structure, the ball traveled 325 feet, and projections suggest it would have cleared the wall in Houston’s Daikin Park.
Did the dome in Milwaukee preserve the victory for the Brewers? The answer remains a definitive “perhaps.” — Dayn Perry
Winner: Postseason Teo
Teoscar Hernández reaches 11 career home runs in just 38 postseason games
Even with sweltering track conditions—a kickoff temperature of 100 degrees marked the second-hottest first pitch in postseason history—both offenses struggled to find their footing early on. The game remained a scoreless tie heading into the bottom of the fourth. A one-out walk issued to Freddie Freeman paved the way for one of modern baseball’s most clutch October power hitters, and Teoscar Hernández delivered with a home run to put the Dodgers up 2-0.
This blast marked the 11th postseason home run of Hernández’s career, maintaining his streak of hitting at least one long ball in each of his last six playoff series. He has reserved his best work for the NLDS, where he is now batting .324 (12-for-37) with four home runs and 12 RBIs across 10 career games.
This performance extended a phenomenal late-season surge for the outfielder. Back in August, faced with the prospect of being relegated to a platoon role—a possibility manager Dave Roberts discussed openly—Hernández found another gear. Over his final 25 games of the regular season, he posted a spectacular .352/.433/.582 slash line, adding four doubles, a triple, five home runs, 15 runs scored, and 20 RBIs.
It is also worth highlighting that despite struggling for much of the year, Kyle Tucker also finished the regular season on a high note. Over his final 22 games, he put up a .284/.365/.595 line with six home runs and 12 RBIs, carrying that momentum into Game 1 with a crucial two-run insurance homer in the sixth. — Matt Snyder
Losers: Every Franchise That Allowed Los Angeles to Trade for Skubal
Los Angeles trade deadline prize Tarik Skubal put on a clinic on Saturday
As the back-to-back reigning World Series champions, the Dodgers were already formidable. Yet, when the Detroit Tigers decided to rebuild in July, reigning two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal became available. Many assumed other front offices would step in to prevent Detroit from sending him to Los Angeles. Instead, several teams prioritized keeping their top prospects over preventing the champions from acquiring the game’s premier starter—or securing him for themselves.
In his highly anticipated postseason debut for Los Angeles on Saturday, Skubal was brilliant. His changeup was practically unhittable, forcing eight swings-and-misses on just 15 attempts. He complemented that devastating off-speed pitch with his standard 98 mph fastball and three distinct breaking offerings.
The left-hander breezed through five shutout innings, allowing only a single hit. Though he hit a slight speed bump in the sixth by giving up a solo home run and walking two batters, he quickly adjusted his mechanics to leave the runners stranded.
Ultimately, Skubal finished his outstanding six-inning performance with seven strikeouts.
This underscores a key point from when the trade first went down: landing Skubal was a massive win for Los Angeles, but keeping him away from other contenders was just as significant. Had a rival like Atlanta acquired him, the Dodgers might have had to go up against him on Saturday. Instead, he was leading their own charge. — Matt Snyder
Winner: Munetaka Murakami
Following a difficult Wild Card round, Murakami delivered a decisive blast on Saturday
It was only natural to wonder if Munetaka Murakami’s game would translate to the majors, especially given his high strikeout numbers and low contact rates in Japan. While those concerns persist—he batted just .207 on the year and dipped to .198 from May onward—his 35 home runs and a 130 OPS+ more than made up for the swing-and-miss in his game.
After a quiet Wild Card round against Houston where he went 1-for-8 with five strikeouts, Murakami announced his arrival on the big stage in Game 1 against Cleveland. In the third inning, he crushed a 440-foot, two-run shot that provided all the offense Chicago would need. Listen to the exciting Japanese broadcast call of his massive home run below:
This blast came right after Cleveland squandered a bases-loaded threat in the bottom of the third. The Guardians let another golden opportunity go by in the fourth with the bases full again. Though Cleveland had multiple chances to break the game open, they failed to cash in, while Murakami delivered the kind of game-changing swing Chicago must rely on to capture this ALDS.
The White Sox managed to advance past the Wild Card round with minimal production from Murakami, but they will require his bat to overcome Cleveland and make a deep run. Postseason success hinges on star players stepping up, and Murakami did exactly that in Game 1, carrying the team with his decisive home run. *– Mike Axisa*
Loser: Regular-Season History
Proof that regular-season matchups hold little weight once the playoffs begin
Chicago right-hander Grant Taylor previously secured a crucial seven-out, 54-pitch save to close out the Wild Card opener against Houston, an effort that made him our unofficial MVP of that round. Yet, that wasn’t even his finest moment of this playoff run. In Game 1 of the ALDS, he went on to record a dominant four-inning save to secure a 3-0 victory against the Guardians.
During his Game 1 relief appearance, Taylor needed only 42 pitches to strike out six, inducing an astounding 12 swings-and-misses on 23 swings—a 52% whiff rate. This level of dominance is especially remarkable given that Cleveland was one of the toughest teams to strike out during the regular season, ranking fifth-lowest in strikeout rate.
What makes this lengthy save even more remarkable is how much Taylor struggled against Cleveland earlier in the year. Over six regular-season matchups, the Guardians battered him for eight runs on nine hits and six walks in just 6 ⅔ innings. Cleveland even walked off against Taylor twice on hits by Brayan Rocchio, in addition to handing him an extra-innings defeat in Chicago. Ouch.
With that history, the Guardians surely felt self-assured when they saw Taylor jog out from the bullpen in Game 1. However, instead of another breakthrough, Taylor completely silenced their bats, securing the first four-inning playoff save since Lance McCullers Jr. did so for Houston in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS.
With Sunday serving as a rest day for both American League series, Taylor will have time to recover and could easily find himself back on the mound for Game 2 on Monday. — Mike Axisa
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