It’s MLB Playoffs time!
After Monday’s bonus action to determine the final two spots in the National League postseason, eight teams are in action Tuesday as the 2024 MLB Playoffs begin with a best-of-three wild card round.
Game 1 began with the Detroit Tigers defeating the Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals winning by a complete victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Then, in a game with multiple lead changes, the New York Mets topped the Milwaukee Brewers. The San Diego Padres finished with a 4-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.
We’ll bring you day 1 game takeaways, live updates and analysis, as well as the one thing you need to know about each Game 2.
Main links: Everything you need to know | bracket | Recommended | Watch on ESPN and ABC
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Today’s Match
* Always Eastern
Detroit Leads Series 1-0
Before Jason Heyward sent a line drive whizzing into Spencer Torkelson’s glove, before the Astros’ bats came alive in the final inning, before the Tigers were on the verge of losing their playoff opener in heartbreaking fashion, there was Tarik Skubal. The would-be Cy Young winner is doing what he’s been doing all season. He attacks with his fastball, baffles with his changeup, baffles with his slider, and leads an upstart team that no one expected to see here. Skubal pitched six innings, allowing four hits, walking one, striking out six and throwing 64 of 88 pitches for strikes, holding the likely Astros scoreless. He was hit on the wrist by a liner in the second inning, and suffered a cramp in his left side in the sixth, but it was no problem. The best pitcher in baseball made such a pitch in his first postseason start.
One thing you need to know about Game 2: Tigers manager AJ Hinch promised “pitching chaos” after Skubal, and now there is a pitching mystery. Nothing has been announced yet, but Reese Olson appears to be a likely candidate to pitch at least most of the innings, with the opener starting before him. The Astros are expected to use young right-hander Hunter Brown, meaning Yusei Kikuchi will follow suit in a potential Game 3. — Alden Gonzalez
Kansas City leads the series 1-0
In the 2014 American League Championship Series, the Kansas City Royals recorded a four-game sweep and outscored the Baltimore Orioles by six points. It was still a thorny series for Baltimore, and one that came to mind Tuesday afternoon when the Royals earned a decisive postseason victory over the Orioles.
Kansas City’s 1-0 win in Game 1 of the wild card series at Camden Yards was textbook for the Royals. This is a team that gives up more runs than RBI, and it is a team that wins thanks to excellent starting pitching. Maikel Garcia’s walk and stolen base followed by Bobby Witt Jr.’s single accounted for the only runs of the game. Following six stellar innings from Cole Ragans, three relievers finished the pitching with three more unearned runs.
One thing you need to know about Game 2: It’s easy to forget how bad the Royals were a year ago. Baltimore was on the verge of a 101-win season, but Kansas City lost 106, which is an unseemly amount, and these kinds of losses tend not to go away. Now the Royals have two chances to advance to the Division Series at Yankee Stadium with one win, and the Reagans and co-ace Seth Lugo will take on Baltimore’s trade deadline savior Zack Eflin in Game 2. –– Jeff Passan
New York leads the series 1-0
The Mets were in clutch mode Monday with a classic playoff win over Atlanta and a day later in Milwaukee. New York withstood Milwaukee’s early burst of energy and shut out a potentially big inning with limited damage. That was thanks to Luis Severino, who lasted six innings despite being stuck in traffic on the bases throughout the trip.
That was clutch enough, but the Mets came clutch in the fifth inning, scoring five two-out runs against an underwhelming Milwaukee bullpen. New York went 5-for-7 with runners in scoring position throughout. Almost everyone pitched, but the decisive hits were Jesse Winker’s two-run triple in the third inning and Mark Vientos’ two-run go-ahead hit in the fifth. Clutch everywhere.
One thing you need to know about Game 2: Now the Mets can end things on Wednesday when Sean Manaea takes the mound to try to overturn their bad postseason history. In three playoff games between Oakland and San Diego, he recorded 0 wins, 3 losses, and an ERA of 15.26. That’s a lot of work to turn around. But again, this is exactly the kind of history the Mets have been upending since the beginning of the season. — Bradford Dolittle
San Diego leads the series 1-0
Braves hitters must have felt like they were facing a pitcher throwing wiffle balls at 95 miles per hour. Because Michael King was throwing sweepers and sinkers and other pitches from the same slot. And the ball was moving and rushing all over the place. bowl. He had so much command that he threw 73% of his pitches for strikes, consistently getting ahead in counts and forcing hitters to swing. There have been several instances of right-handed batsmen hacking away at balls in the left-handed batter’s box. King had performed well for the Yankees, but this was really his first big moment on the national stage, and he struck out 12 and walked no walks in Game 1.
One thing you need to know about Game 2: With the Chris Sale injury and the dominoes of Monday’s doubleheader, the Braves knew they would be very lucky to win Game 1. AJ Smith Shawver played in his first big league game in 131 days. The Braves had a much better chance in Game 2 with Max Fried as the starter. In his previous outing, he was dominant over eight innings against the Royals. If the Braves lose the series, this will likely be Freed’s last game with Atlanta. He will become a free agent this fall.
Real-time updates
