Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.
If the first day of the four Division Series is any indication of what is to come this postseason, buckle up. Terrific pitching, home runs and a weird play highlighted Saturday’s action. The AL has today off (something to do with football, I guess), with the two NL series taking center stage.
Division Series Digest
Contreras’ Blast, A Clipped Cable Lift Brewers
Final score: Brewers 3, Padres 2
Series: Brewers lead 1-0
Next game: Padres (RHP Michael King) at Brewers (RHP Logan Henderson), today, 5:08 p.m. ET (FS1)
The combination of a pair of homers and a strange bounce gave the Milwaukee Brewers a victory in a game where their ace pitcher was not his usual self. William Contreras snapped a seventh-inning tie with a solo homer as the Brewers withstood a potential homer that struck a roof cable for a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the best-of-five NL Division Series. Jackson Chourio also homered for the Brewers, who finished tied for the second-fewest homers in MLB this season but also scored the second-most runs.
The game marked the first postseason start for Brewers superstar right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, the probable NL Cy Young Award winner after a banner first full season in MLB. But the Padres had an excellent game plan vs. the Miz, fouling off 30 pitches and getting most of their contact against pitches other than his ferocious four-seamer fastball. Misiorowski, who led MLB with 252 strikeouts, opened the game with a 104.8 mph four-seamer, the fastest in MLB postseason history. His next pitch was 104.6 mph. After that, though, the Padres made Misiorowski work for his outs. After notching his third strikeout to begin the second inning, Xander Bogaerts singled to deep short, 20-year-old rookie Ethan Salas lined a single to center and Luis Campusano lined an opposite-field single to right past a diving first baseman to score Bogaerts, with Salas going to third. Jake Cronenworth then hit a grounder to first baseman Jake Bauers, who charged and threw home, where Contreras couldn’t make a play as Salas scored.
The Brewers struck back against Padres left-handed starter Robbie Ray in the bottom of the third. Garrett Mitchell had a leadoff infield single then, one out later, Chourio launched his fifth career postseason homer in just his 13th postseason game over his first three MLB seasons. It stood 2-2 until the bottom of the seventh. There, Contreras took a 101.1 mph sinker from left-hander Adrian Morejon and crushed it the opposite way to right-center for a go-ahead homer.
Then came the most interesting play of the night in the ninth inning. Dustin Harris had a leadoff single against Brewers right-handed closer Trevor Megill, who had gotten the last out of the eighth by striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. After striking out Manny Machado on three pitches, Ty France launched a 1-0 four-seamer high and toward the left-field foul pole. But before it could get there, the ball clipped a cable and deflected back into play, where it was caught by Chourio on the warning track. After the umpires huddled to make sure they had the ground rule correct on such a play, France was ruled out as the ball had been fair when it struck the cable. If it had been foul at that moment, it would have been a foul ball. Jackson Merrill then lined out to right to end the game.
There have been nine pitches at 104.0+ mph in the postseason under tracking (2008)Jacob Misiorowski has thrown 7 of them, 5 of those coming tonight
— Sarah Langs (@slangsonsports.bsky.social) 2026-10-04T02:16:12.643Z
Rasmussen’s Gem Wins, Thanks To Wells’ Blunder
Final score: Rays 1, Yankees 0
Series: Rays lead 1-0
Next game: Yankees (RHP Cam Schlittler) at Rays (RHP Freddy Peralta), Monday, 8:08 p.m. ET (TBS)
Drew Rasmussen made a run at history. Austin Wells made a run at a triple. Neither was successful and their efforts will be remembered for much different reasons. Rasmussen, the ace right-hander of the Tampa Bay Rays, pitched 7⅔ no-hit innings in the Rays’ 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the AL Division Series. Jonathan Aranda homered off Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole with one out in the third inning for the only run of the game.
Rasmussen had struck out 10 over the first seven innings without allowing a hit. He retired the first two batters of the eighth on groundouts, bringing up Wells. The Yankees’ catcher laced a line drive that hit the right-field line and bounced off not one but two walls in the right-field corner. Once right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. tracked down the ball, he fired a rocket to shortstop Taylor Walls, whose relay to third baseman Junior Caminero was well ahead of Wells’ arrival. The Yankees went from being no-hit to having the tying run on base to the inning ending within a matter of seconds. That would be their first and only chance at scoring. Rasmussen did walk two, coming in the second and third innings, each with two outs. He then set down the next 15 batters in a row before Wells’ hit.
Aranda was the unlikely offensive hero. He pulled a 2-2 changeup from Cole and drove it out to right-center, 417 feet away. Aranda hit 22 homers during the regular season. Cole was good for five innings, allowing the one run on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Longest individual no-hit bids in postseason history2010 NLDS G1 Roy Halladay no-hitter1956 WS G5 Don Larsen perfect game1947 WS G4 Bill Bevens: 8 2/3 IP2026 ALDS G1 Drew Rasmussen: 7 2/3 IP2019 NLCS G1 Anibal Sánchez: 7 2/3 IP 1967 WS G2 Jim Lonborg: 7 2/3 IP1942 WS G1 Red Ruffing: 7 2/3 IP
— Sarah Langs (@slangsonsports.bsky.social) 2026-10-04T01:51:36.195Z
Look at third base. The stop sign from Luis Rojas is up before Austin Wells even rounds second…
— Casey Drottar (@caseydrottar.bsky.social) 2026-10-04T00:47:17.863Z
Skubal, HRs Get Dodgers’ Quest Off To Good Start
Final score: Dodgers 5, Atlanta 3
Series: Dodgers lead 1-0
Next game: Atlanta (LHP Chris Sale or TBA) at Dodgers (LHP Blake Snell), today, 8:08 p.m. ET (FS1)
The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ pursuit of history began with their new shiny toy on the mound. If left-hander Tarik Skubal pitches the way he did in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against Atlanta, the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner just may get a shiny ring like most of his teammates already have. With a first-pitch temperature of 100 at Dodger Stadiu, Skubal struck out seven and allowed one run over six innings as the two-time defending World Series champions beat Atlanta 5-3. Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy hit home runs as Atlanta went with a bullpen game, the same plan that worked in the decisive Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series vs. the Philadelphia Phillies.
It did not go as well in Game 1 as it did in that game and, in the postseason, that can be the subtle difference between winning and losing. With only two healthy and trustworthy starters, left-hander Dylan Dodd started for the first time in an MLB game since 2022. He responded with three terrific innings, not allowing a run and just two hits, while punching out four. Next up was right-hander Victor Medeiros, who walked Freddie Freeman with one out and then got tagged by Hernandez’s two-run blast to left, a 431-foot shot with a 109.9 mph exit velocity. Sean Murphy homered off Skubal in the top of the sixth, but the Dodgers bounced back with Tucker’s two-run homer with one out in the sixth and Muncy’s solo shot one out later that made it 5-1.
Skubal was in cruise control in the high heat. After allowing a leadoff single to Drake Baldwin to begin the game, Skubal retired 15 in a row, including striking out the side in the third inning and his fastest pitch of the season (101.1 mph), until Murphy’s blast leading off the sixth. Things got a little sticky in the ninth against left-hander Tanner Scott as Ronald Acuña Jr. singled and Ozzie Albies went deep to make it 5-3, but Scott got the next two hitters out before right-hander Evan Phillips was summoned. Phillips walked Mauricio Dubón, but then got Austin Riley to ground out to end the game and give the Dodgers their first win as they try to become the third franchise in MLB history to win three straight World Series.
A Mune Shot And Taylor Time Carry White Sox
Final score: White Sox 3, Guardians 0
Series: White Sox lead 1-0
Next game: White Sox (TBA) at Guardians (RHP Gavin Williams), Monday, 5:08 p.m. ET (TBS)
The Chicago White Sox got their feet wet in the postseason with their AL Wild Card Series sweep of the Houston Astros. Stepping up a level, they showed in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians that they are ready for whatever comes next. A bullpen game punctuated by Grant Taylor’s four-inning save and another timely homer by Munetaka Murakami sent the White Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Guardians. The underdog White Sox, losers of 100 games each of the previous three seasons, won the ALDS opener with a familiar formula: Hit a homer and let the bullpen take over.
Murakami’s shot came after a regular season that featured 35 homers. This one was a two-run shot in the fourth inning against Guardians left-handed starter Parker Messick and his first in three postseason games. It came on the first pitch and was a 440-foot no-doubter and followed a leadoff single by Miguel Vargas. The other run came in the top of the seventh when Kyle Teel drew a one-out walk and Colson Montgomery cued an opposite-field double inside the third-base line, with Teel scoring as the ball wasn’t caught at the plate.
The pitching plan was simple and a repeat of Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. Left-hander Hagen Smith starting and Taylor finishing. Smith went 2⅔ hitless innings, then left-hander Bryan Hudson, right-hander Jordan Hicks and left-hander Anthony Kay combined for 2⅓ innings, allowing one hit. The White Sox turned it over to Taylor, who was tremendous. In four innings, the right-hander allowed two hits and no walks while striking out six. He went 2⅓ innings, allowing one unearned run, against the Astros. With having today off, extending Taylor isn’t a huge deal even if he doesn’t come back until Game 3. The combined effort limited the Guardians to just three hits as the White Sox improved to 3-0 this postseason.
By The Numbers
6 (times 2) White Sox reliever Grant Taylor struck out six, tied for the most K’s without a walk in a relief outing (11th time). Taylor also became the sixth player to record a save of at least four innings in postseason game.
6 Left fielder Teoscar Hernández has homered in the last six postseason series the Dodgers have played.
5 Brewers star Jackson Chourio became the second-youngest player in MLB history with five postseason homers, only behind Juan Soto. Chourio is 22 years, 206 days old. The homer also broke the Brewers’ franchise record for career postseason homers. He had been tied with Prince Fielder and Orlando Arcia. Also, his 113.3 mph exit velocity was 3 mph faster than his previous career high.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Not PhamGraphs
Tommy Pham thought he had a three-run homer in the sixth inning for the White Sox. It turned out to be an inning-ending double play for the Guardians thanks to a terrific catch by left fielder Angel Martínez and bad baserunning by Miguel Vargas.
Angel Martínez catches it at the wall and the Guardians turn two!
Their Own Haka
How the White Sox get ready.
The type of vibe that revives a ballclub from three straight 100-loss seasons
— Talkin' Baseball (@talkinbaseballbot.bsky.social) 2026-10-03T21:09:17.000Z
Around The League
Judge Again Off Yankees’ Roster
For the second series of this postseason, the Yankees are again without superstar slugger Aaron Judge. A right calf injury is not sufficiently healed, so the Yankees left Judge off their AL Division Series roster. The three-time AL MVP has been working to get back to the roster, including taking at-bats at the Yankees’ minor-league facility in Tampa, Fla.
Extra Bases
⚾ After being included on the original postseason roster, Padres right-hander Walker Buehler was put on the paternity list as his wife was expected to give birth Saturday to the couple’s second child. He will return for Tuesday’s Game 3. Right-hander Randy Vásquez replaced Buehler on the roster.
Articles You Should Read
Dodgers face risky dilemma if Ohtani’s injuries worsen in NLDS — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times
Same structural failures cost Phillies in playoffs; onus falls on Dombrowski — David Murphy, Philadelphia Inquirer
Brewers’ Woodruff holds out hope for a comeback this year — Steve Megargee, Associated Press
Three Cubs takeaways from Jed Hoyer’s season-ending press conference — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune
