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We’re down to eight teams in the 2022 postseason after four were eliminated this past weekend in MLB’s first-ever wild-card series weekend. Now it’s on to the league division series: four series, best-of-five, first team to win three advances.

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the defending champion Atlanta Braves in the first game of the division series round on Tuesday. In a battle between AL West rivals, the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners on a dramatic walk-off. The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the second ALDS, and, finally, an intradivision showdown resulted in the the Los Angeles Dodgers beating the San Diego Padres in the second NLDS opening matchup.

Here’s a look back at all the Day 1 action.

More: Everything you need to know about the 2022 MLB playoffs | Previewing LDS matchups | Could this be the greatest postseason … ever? | Bracket, results and more

Dodgers lead 1-0

Game 1 takeaways

The Dodgers have continually talked up the depth and talent of their bullpen, regardless of the uncertainty at the back end — and that confidence was validated in their postseason opener. The Padres trimmed a five-run deficit to two with a big fifth inning against Julio Urias, but then four Dodgers relievers — Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol and Chris Martin — kept the Padres scoreless over the last four innings for a Game 1 victory.

The usage offered an early peek at the Dodgers’ bullpen strategy. Manager Dave Roberts used Phillips, their most effective reliever this season, in the sixth inning because the best part of the Padres’ lineup was due up. Vesia, a lefty, came back out to face the left-handed-hitting Juan Soto. And for the final four outs, it was Graterol and Martin. The order will undoubtedly change throughout the postseason, with Tommy Kahnle and, perhaps eventually, Blake Treinen pitching in high leverage situations. But the Dodgers clearly feel good enough about their depth. — Alden Gonzalez

Out of a jam

With the Padres on a roll in the sixth inning, Phillips got Wil Myers to ground into a double play, ending the threat.

Padres on the board

Myers’ 376-foot home run just made it over the wall to give the Padres their first run of the night. Runs by Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim cut the Dodgers’ lead to two.

Dodgers score again

In the bottom of the third, Will Smith hit a ball deep into left field for a double that brought home Trea Turner home and extended the Dodgers’ lead to three. After a Max Muncy single, L.A. added another run courtesy of a Gavin Lux double that brought Smith home.

A walk with the bases loaded along and a Padres error helped bring in two more runs and increased the lead to 5-0 for Los Angeles.

Turner goes yard

Trea Turner gave the Dodgers an early lead in the first inning with a 419-foot blast to left field.

Arrivals

Yankees lead series 1-0

Game 1 takeaways

The Yankees needed Gerrit Cole to be on top of his game and he delivered. Over the course of 6 1/3 innings, Cole allowed just one run on four hits — a home run to Steven Kwan — while walking one and striking out eight. The game nearly fell apart on Cole in the third inning after Cleveland loaded the bases with one out following Kwan’s home run, but Cole managed to get out of the inning unscathed.

Meanwhile, at the plate, the Yankees relied on a solo homer from Harrison Bader to tie the game, a Jose Trevino sacrifice fly to take the lead and an Anthony Rizzo two-run shot into the second deck of right field to extend the lead to 4-1. That provided a cushion for the bullpen, which was held together on the backs of Jonathan Loaisiga, Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes. — Joon Lee

Rizzo rips one

It wouldn’t be a game at Yankee Stadium without a lot of home runs. Speaking of that, Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run dinger to add to New York’s lead.

The home run that wasn’t

Josh Donaldson thought he had a go-ahead home run … and was caught out between first and second base when it turned out that the ball had instead bounced off the top of the wall. Replay confirmed it, and the Yankee faithful were less than enthused. Fortunately for the Bronx Bombers, an Oscar Gonzalez misplay off the right-field wall led to a sacrifice fly, and a tenuous lead.

The Yankees strike back

Harrison Bader tied things up for New York with a home run to left field. It’s Bader’s first home run as a member of the Yankees.

Cleveland starts it off

The Guardians’ power-filled postseason continues with Steven Kwan opening up the scoring with a 360-foot home run to right field.

Arrivals

Mayoral wager

Astros lead 1-0

Game 1 takeaways

The Mariners were on their way to stealing home-field advantage in their ALDS, and then the Astros did what the Astros always seem to do in October. Bottom nine. Two on. Two out. Yordan Alvarez at the plate. And in came Robbie Ray, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, the $115 million free agent prize of Seattle’s offseason, to get the lefty-on-lefty matchup. Alvarez fouled off a fastball. He didn’t miss the next one. And 439 feet later, a 117-mph rocket landed in the right-field bleachers and propelled the Astros to an 8-7 victory in Game 1. Down 7-3 after Justin Verlander‘s worst-ever playoff start, Houston looked done until it wasn’t. And it continued a trend that has proven awfully fruitful in years past: Six straight postseasons, six straight victories in Game 1 of the ALDS. — Jeff Passan

Postgame trolling

The Astros used the most brutal weapon possible in trolling the Mariners: math.

Astros walk it off

Alvarez’s walk-off home run put Houston in the win column in the series opener.

Houston shrinks the lead

Alex Bregman‘s 403-foot homer drove Alvarez home and narrowed Seattle’s lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Mariners keep mashing

Seattle added to its lead thanks to Eugenio Suarez‘s solo homer.

Houston gets on the board

The Astros’ first score came in the third inning, courtesy of a Yordan Alvarez double that drove Jose Altuve and Chas McCormick home. Yuli Gurriel mashed a 373-foot home run for their third run of the game, cutting Seattle’s lead tp three.

Seattle stays hot

Seattle’s hot start continued in the second inning with runs from Rodriguez, Adam Frazier and Jarred Kelenic.

Seattle strikes first

Julio Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk from Justin Verlander to begin the game. Ty France’s hit sent him to third, and Cal Raleigh‘s RBI single allowed Rodriguez to score the game’s first run.

Trolling the Stros

Washington’s department of natural resources couldn’t resist cracking a joke about Houston’s sign-stealing scandal.

M’s are here

Thanks for the help

The very helpful excuse note. Especially for a 2:37 p.m. local time start.

Phillies lead series 1-0

Game 1 takeaways

The Phillies’ offense has emerged during the playoffs with a different feel than the long ball-or-bust version we saw most of the season. In Tuesday’s NLDS Game 1 win, they peppered Braves pitching with 10 hits — Nick Castellanos had three of them — and seven runs in the first five innings without hitting a home run.

When they weren’t filling the bases via singles and doubles, Philadelphia played small ball, attempting three sacrifice bunts, including one each from sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Two of those bunt attempts were successful, leading to two more small-ball moments: sacrifice flies by Alec Bohm in the third inning and Matt Vierling in the fifth. And it all added up to just enough for the Phillies to hang on for a 7-6 victory after the Braves made it interesting with a three-run ninth inning.

It’s not something you can find in the box score, but the Phillies’ fast start — coupled with the Mariners getting to Astros ace Justin Verlander early in their own division series opener — makes it worth wondering if there’s a rest-vs.-rust advantage to coming in hot off a wild-card-round win against a team that hasn’t played for nearly a week. — Jesse Rogers

Lockdown defense

Nick Castellanos makes a diving catch for the second out of the ninth inning en route to a Philly victory.

Olson’s big-time HR

Matt Olson hits a three-run blast with one out in the ninth, cutting the Phillies’ deficit to just one run — and giving the Braves some late-game hope.

Playoff d’Arnaud

Travis D’Arnaud earned his second and third RBIs of the game with a double that drove home William Contreras and Olson — making him responsible for all of Atlanta’s first three runs.

Lots of early scoring

Philadelphia is living the baseball adage that “two-out hits will get you to heaven.” Atlanta’s first score came via the long ball.

Famous fans

Arrivals

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‘Special’ Schlittler stars as Yankees oust Red Sox

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October 3, 2025

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'Special' Schlittler stars as Yankees oust Red Sox

  • Associated Press

Oct 2, 2025, 10:55 PM ET

NEW YORK — Rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler struck out 12 in eight dominant innings and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-0 on Thursday night to win their AL Wild Card Series in a deciding third game.

Taking his place in Yankees-Red Sox rivalry lore, the 24-year-old Schlittler overpowered Boston with 100 mph heat in his 15th major league start and pitched New York into a best-of-five division series against American League East champion Toronto beginning Saturday.

“A star is born tonight. He’s a special kid, man,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He is not afraid. He expects this.”

Amed Rosario and Anthony Volpe each had an RBI single in a four-run fourth as New York became the first team to lose the opener of a best-of-three wild-card series and come back to advance since Major League Baseball expanded the first round in 2022.

“It felt like the most pressure-packed game I’ve ever experienced — World Series, clinching games, whatever,” Boone said.

Schlittler, who debuted in the majors July 9, grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Massachusetts — but has said several times he wanted to play for the Yankees. He had faced Boston only once before, as a freshman at Northeastern in a 2020 spring training exhibition.

Ex-Yankees great Andy Pettitte gave Schlittler one piece of advice Wednesday: Get a good night’s sleep.

“I woke up and I was locked in, so I knew exactly what I needed to do to go out there, especially against my hometown team,” Schlittler said.

He outpitched Connelly Early, a 23-year-old left-hander who debuted Sept. 9 and became Boston’s youngest postseason starting pitcher since 21-year-old Babe Ruth in 1916.

Schlittler struck out two more than any other Yankees pitcher had in his postseason debut, allowing just five singles and walking none. He threw 11 pitches 100 mph or faster — including six in the first inning, one more than all Yankees pitchers had combined for previously since pitch tracking started in 2008.

Schlittler threw 75 of 107 pitches for strikes, starting 22 of 29 batters with strikes and topping out at 100.8 mph. David Bednar worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth as the Red Sox failed to advance a runner past second base.

Bucky Dent threw out the ceremonial first pitch on the 47th anniversary of his go-ahead, three-run homer for New York at Fenway Park in an AL East tiebreaker game, and the Yankees went on to vanquish their longtime rivals the way they often used to.

New York, which arrived packed for a late-night flight to Toronto, won its second straight after losing eight of nine postseason meetings with Boston dating to 2004 and edged ahead 14-13 in postseason games between the teams. The Red Sox cost themselves in the fourth with a defense that committed a big league-high 116 errors during the regular season.

New York’s rally began when Cody Bellinger hit a soft fly into the triangle between center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, right fielder Wilyer Abreu and second baseman Romy González. The ball fell just in front of Rafaela, 234 feet from home plate, as Bellinger hustled into second with a double.

Giancarlo Stanton walked on a full count and with one out Rosario grounded a single into left, just past diving shortstop Trevor Story, to drive in Bellinger with the first run.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s single loaded the bases, and Volpe hit a grounder just past González, who had been shifted toward second, and into right for an RBI single and a 2-0 lead.

After a catcher’s interference call on Omar Narváez was overturned on a video review, Austin Wells hit a potential double-play grounder that first baseman Nathaniel Lowe tried to backhand on an in-between hop. The ball glanced off his glove and into shallow right field as two runs scored.

“We didn’t play defense,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “They didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found holes and it happened fast.”

Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon made the defensive play of the game when he caught Jarren Duran‘s eighth-inning foul pop and somersaulted into Boston’s dugout, then emerged smiling and apparently unhurt.

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Cubs quash Padres’ threat in 9th to make NLDS

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October 3, 2025

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Cubs quash Padres' threat in 9th to make NLDS

  • Associated Press

Oct 2, 2025, 08:21 PM ET

CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit an RBI single off a shaky Yu Darvish, and the Chicago Cubs shut down Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres for a clinching 3-1 victory in Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series on Thursday.

Backed by a raucous crowd of 40,895 at Wrigley Field, Chicago used its stellar defense to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2017. Michael Busch hit a solo homer, and Jameson Taillon pitched four shutout innings before manager Craig Counsell used five relievers to close it out.

“This group’s battle-tested,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “This group can grind it out. This group never backs down from and shies away from anything. This is such an amazing thing to be a part of.”

After Brad Keller faltered in the ninth — allowing Jackson Merrill‘s leadoff homer and hitting two batters with pitches — Andrew Kittredge earned the save by retiring Jake Cronenworth on a bouncer to third and Freddy Fermin on a fly ball to center field.

Next up for Chicago is a matchup with the NL Central champion Brewers in a compelling division series, beginning with Game 1 on Saturday in Milwaukee.

Counsell managed the Brewers for nine years before he was hired by the Cubs in November 2023, and he has been lustily booed in Milwaukee ever since he departed.

“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” Counsell said. “It’s Cubs-Brewers. That’s going to be as good as it gets. It’s always a great atmosphere when the two teams play each other.”

It was another painful ending for San Diego after it made the postseason for the fourth time in six years but fell short of a pennant again. The Padres forced a decisive Game 3 with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday, but their biggest stars flopped in the series finale.

“There’s a lot of hurt guys in that clubhouse, but we left it all out on the field, and there’s no regrets on anybody’s part,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Just disappointed.”

Tatis went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, including a fly ball to right that stranded runners on second and third in the fifth. Machado, who hit a two-run homer in Game 2, bounced to shortstop Swanson for the final out of the eighth, leaving a runner at third.

“It’s not fun at all. We definitely missed an opportunity,” Tatis said.

Darvish also struggled against his former team. The Japanese right-hander was pulled after the first four Cubs batters reached in the second inning, capped by the first of Crow-Armstrong’s three hits.

Jeremiah Estrada came in and issued a bases-loaded walk to Swanson, handing the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Estrada limited the damage by striking out Matt Shaw before Busch bounced into an inning-ending double play.

Taillon allowed two hits and struck out four. Caleb Thielbar got two outs before Daniel Palencia wiggled out of a fifth-inning jam while earning his second win of the series. Drew Pomeranz managed the seventh before Keller worked the eighth.

The Cubs supported their bullpen with another solid day in the field. Swanson made a slick play on Luis Arraez‘s leadoff grounder in the sixth, and then turned an inning-ending double play following a walk to Machado.

Crow-Armstrong, who went 0-for-6 with five strikeouts in the first two games, robbed Machado of a hit with a sliding catch in center in the first.

“It’s just the next step for us,” Busch said. “You set out a goal before each and every year to do stuff like this, and you celebrate it, and it’s been fun to celebrate and continue to celebrate it tonight, but there’s a lot of work ahead.”

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Bogaerts laments ‘terrible’ call, pines for ABS

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October 3, 2025

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Bogaerts laments 'terrible' call, pines for ABS

Oct 3, 2025, 01:11 AM ET

Count Xander Bogaerts among those looking forward to Major League Baseball’s new challenge system for balls and strikes next season.

The San Diego Padres shortstop just wishes it were in place a little earlier.

Bogaerts struck out looking on a pitch that appeared out of the strike zone during the ninth inning of the team’s 3-1 loss to the Cubs in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday in Chicago.

The call came at a critical time.

The Cubs carried a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning, but Jackson Merrill led off with a home run off Brad Keller to cut San Diego’s deficit to 3-1 and bring Bogaerts to the plate. On a 3-2 count, Keller’s 97 mph fastball appeared to miss the zone low, causing Bogaerts to crouch down in disbelief at the call and Padres manager Mike Shildt to race out of the dugout.

Keller then hit Ryan O’Hearn and Bryce Johnson with pitches. Had Bogaerts walked, the Padres could have had the bases loaded with no outs. Instead, Andrew Kittredge came on with two runners on and one out and retired the next two batters, allowing the Cubs to advance to play the Milwaukee Brewers in the next round.

Bogaerts didn’t mince words after the game when asked about the apparent missed call by plate umpire D.J. Reyburn.

“Talk about it now: What do you want me to do?” Bogaerts said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s a ball. Messed up the whole game, you know? I mean, can’t go back in time, and talking about it now won’t change anything. So it was bad, and thank God for ABS next year because this is terrible.”

The automated ball-strike system will be implemented in the majors next season after years of testing in the minors as well as during spring training and at this year’s All-Star Game. The MLB competition committee voted last month to give teams two challenges per game using ABS if they believe a call by the plate umpire is wrong.

Thursday’s ending soured a 90-win season for San Diego, which made the playoffs for the fourth time in six seasons. It has not made it past the NL Championship Series during this recent run.

“We had a lot of fun,” Bogaerts said. “We competed with each other. We had guys that got injuries, a lot of guys stepped up. We traded for some really great people at the deadline. … It was fun until today.”

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