MLB wild-card round Day 1 takeaways, keys to Game 2
It’s MLB playoff time!
After a bonus Monday of action to decide the final two National League postseason spots, eight teams were in action Tuesday as the 2024 MLB playoffs began with the best-of-three wild-card round.
The Game 1 action started with the Detroit Tigers defeating the Houston Astros, and the Kansas City Royals followed with a shutout of the Baltimore Orioles. Then, in a game with multiple lead changes, the New York Mets came out on top over the Milwaukee Brewers. The San Diego Padres capped the night with a commanding 4-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.
We’ve got you covered with takeaways, live updates and analysis from the Day 1 games, as well as one thing to know for each Game 2.
Key links: Everything you need to know | Bracket | Picks | Watch on ESPN, ABC
Jump to: Takeaways | Live updates
Today’s matchups
* All times Eastern
Detroit leads series 1-0
Before Jason Heyward sent a line drive whizzing into the glove of Spencer Torkelson, before the Astros’ bats came alive in the final inning and before the Tigers teetered on the brink of losing their playoff opener in heartbreaking fashion, there was Tarik Skubal, the soon-to-be Cy Young winner, doing what he has done all season — attacking with his fastball, perplexing with his changeup, befuddling with his slider and carrying an upstart team that nobody expected to see here. Skubal kept the potent Astros scoreless through six innings, scattering four hits, walking one, striking out six and throwing 64 of his 88 pitches for strikes. He was struck in the wrist by a liner in the second inning, he dealt with cramping in his left side in the sixth, and none of it mattered. In his first postseason start, the best pitcher in baseball pitched like it.
One thing to know for Game 2: Tigers manager A.J. Hinch promised “pitching chaos” after Skubal, and at the moment, there’s pitching mystery. No announcement has been made, but Reese Olson seems a likely candidate — to pitch the bulk of the innings, at least, with an opener coming in before him. The Astros will turn to young right-hander Hunter Brown, which means Yusei Kikuchi will follow in a potential Game 3. — Alden Gonzalez
Kansas City leads series 1-0
Over a four-game sweep in the American League Championship Series in 2014, the Kansas City Royals outscored the Baltimore Orioles by six runs. It was a dastardly series for Baltimore, one that still stings, and one brought to mind Tuesday afternoon when the Royals again nosed out a crucial postseason win against the Orioles.
Kansas City’s 1-0 victory in Game 1 of their wild-card series at Camden Yards was textbook Royals. They are a team that manufactures runs more than they slug them in, and they are a team that rides excellent starting pitching to victories. A Maikel Garcia walk and stolen base followed by a Bobby Witt Jr. single accounted for the lone tally. Six brilliant innings from Cole Ragans followed by three relievers cobbling together three more scoreless took care of the pitching.
One thing to know for Game 2: It’s easy to forget how bad the Royals were a year ago. Though Baltimore was en route to a 101-win season, Kansas City lost 106 games, an unseemly sum, the kind of losing that tends not to go away in a hurry. Now the Royals have two cracks at one win to send them on to the division series at Yankee Stadium, with Seth Lugo — their co-ace with Ragans — going in Game 2 against Baltimore’s trade-deadline savior, Zach Eflin. –– Jeff Passan
New York leads series 1-0
The Mets were in clutch mode with their playoff-clinching classic win over Atlanta on Monday and they remained there a day later in Milwaukee. New York withstood Milwaukee’s burst of early energy, clipping off potentially huge innings with limited damage. That was thanks to Luis Severino, who persisted through six innings despite traffic on the bases l throughout his outing.
That was clutch enough, but the Mets went way clutch in the fifth, registering five two-out runs against the dominant Milwaukee bullpen. New York went 5-for-7 with runners in scoring position overall. Almost everyone pitched in, but the key blows were Jesse Winker‘s thumb-nosing, two-run third-inning triple and Mark Vientos‘ two-run, go-ahead single in the fifth. Clutch all around.
One thing to know for Game 2: Now the Mets can end things Wednesday when Sean Manaea takes the mound looking to upend a lot of bad postseason history. In three playoffs outings for Oakland and San Diego, he went 0-3 with a 15.26 ERA. That’s a lot to upend — but, then again, that’s precisely the kind of history the Mets have been turning over since early in the season. — Bradford Doolittle
The Braves hitters must’ve felt like they were facing a pitcher throwing a Wiffleball at 95 mph, because Michael King was throwing sweepers and sinkers and other pitches all from the same slot — and the ball was moving and darting all over the plate. He was so good with his command, throwing 73% of his pitches for strikes, that he got ahead in the count consistently and forced the hitters to swing; there were a couple of instances of right-handed hitters hacking at pitches in the left-handed batters box. Although King had good performances for the Yankees, this was really his first big moment on a national stage, and he owned Game 1, striking out 12 and walking none.
One thing to know for Game 2: Because of the dominoes caused by the Chris Sale injury and Monday’s doubleheader, the Braves knew they would probably be very fortunate to win Game 1 — A.J. Smith Shawver was making his first appearance in a big-league game in 131 days. The Braves have a much better shot in Game 2, with Max Fried starting. In his last outing, he was totally dominant in eight innings against the Royals. If the Braves lose this series, this will likely be Fried’s last game with Atlanta. He’ll be a free agent this fall.
Live updates
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jeremiyah Love tied the Notre Dame record with a 98-yard touchdown run, Riley Leonard added two more scores and the Fighting Irish shut down the highest-scoring team in the College Football Playoff, overwhelming Indiana 27-17 on Friday night.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (12-1) won their 11th straight — and their first playoff victory. They’ll face second-seeded Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman got the biggest win of his three-year career by extending his Irish record to 12 victories over ranked teams in three seasons.
“There’s no place like Notre Dame,” Leonard said. “This is why you come here, this is why I came here — to play for a championship.”
Tenth-seeded Indiana (11-2) completed a magical season by finishing with its second fewest points this season on a cold, brisk night in the first CFP game ever played on a campus site. Both of the Hoosiers’ losses came to top-five opponents. Indiana set a single-season school record for wins but still hasn’t won at Notre Dame since 1898.
Notre Dame took control on its third offensive play when Love scooted around the right side of Indiana’s defense, eluded one tackle and sprinted down the sideline to make it 7-0. He matched Josh Adams’ longest run in school history, set in 2015 against Wake Forest. It was also the longest run in CFP history.
“It’s all about finding a way to get another week,” Freeman said. “It wasn’t easy. But we’re going to enjoy this one and we’ll get another one.”
Love finished with eight carries for 108 yards despite appearing to reinjure his left knee later in the first half.
Indiana never recovered after Notre Dame made it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Leonard’s 1-yard TD run late in the fourth gave him 15 this season to break Notre Dame’s season record by a quarterback.
Indiana scored both of its touchdowns in the final 1:27.
Notre Dame made it 14-0 on Leonard’s 5-yard TD pass to Jayden Thomas early in the second quarter. The Irish settled for three more field goals, and the defense took care of the rest — allowing just one field goal.
Leonard was 23 of 32 with 201 yards and one interception. Notre Dame receiver Jordan Faison caught seven passes for 89 yards.
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke turned in another poor game against a top defense, finishing 20 of 33 with 215 yards, with two TDs and one interception, and the Hoosiers rushed for just 63 yards.
“They took it to us,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. “They won, they deserve to win. We didn’t play our best game, but they had a lot to do with that tonight.”
Notre Dame: The Irish have relied on the running game and defense all season — and it was that combination that gave Notre Dame the first playoff win in school history. It may need more out of its passing game to win its first national championship since 1988.
Notre Dame: Plays Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
The Houston Astros and free-agent first baseman Christian Walker have agreed to a three-year, $60 million contract, sources confirmed to ESPN amid multiple reports Friday.
The deal is pending a physical exam, a source told ESPN.
The addition of Walker in all likelihood marks the end of Alex Bregman‘s tenure in Houston, not to mention the Astros’ ill-fated attempts to pry Nolan Arenado from the St. Louis Cardinals. Walker manning first base for the next three years means Isaac Paredes, the 25-year-old corner infielder who was recently acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Kyle Tucker trade, will probably be Bregman’s replacement at third base.
Walker, 33, is widely regarded as one of the sport’s best defensive first basemen and will also provide some power to the middle of the Astros’ lineup. He slashed .250/.332/.481 with 95 home runs and 281 RBIs with the Arizona Diamondbacks over the last three seasons while accumulating 10.8 FanGraphs wins above replacement, sixth-most among first basemen.
First base had been a conundrum in Houston over these last three seasons, one the high-priced Jose Abreu could not solve. Astros first basemen combined for a .651 OPS last season, fifth-lowest in the majors. Walker, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner, will provide a major boost at that position — particularly as a right-handed hitter in Daikin Park, which features a short left-field fence.
The Astros still need help in their outfield after parting with Tucker one year before he’s scheduled to become a free agent. And Bregman, the heart and soul of an Astros franchise that won two championships and made seven straight appearances in the American League Championship Series dating back to his first full season in the big leagues, must choose a new destination.
The New York Yankees, who expressed interest in Walker this offseason, could be a landing spot for Bregman. So might the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays or Detroit Tigers, the latter of which is led by Bregman’s former manager, A.J. Hinch.
Astros general manager Dana Brown expressed optimism in bringing Bregman back throughout the offseason, but owner Jim Crane would not meet the $200 million-plus asking price of Bregman’s agent, Scott Boras, prompting an initial pivot to Arenado — before he utilized his no-trade clause to stay in St. Louis — and an agreement with Walker.
Walker declined the D-backs’ qualifying offer earlier this month. By signing him, the Astros, a team that exceeded the luxury-tax threshold last season, will give up their second- and fifth-round picks in the upcoming draft, as well as $1 million from their international-spending pool. The Astros will get back a fourth-round pick once Bregman signs with another team, a development that now feels inevitable.
In the aftermath of their loss to the Tigers in the wild-card round earlier this fall, longtime Astros second baseman Jose Altuve spoke passionately about the importance of bringing Bregman back, saying: “We’re not going to be the same organization without him.”
In many ways, the Walker signing signals a new chapter.
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