The 2026 MLB postseason resumes on Saturday with Game 1 of all four Division 1 matchups. Since the best-of-five Division Series became a thing in 1995, the team that wins Game 1 has gone on to win the series 73% of the time, and 32% of the time the series has ended in a sweep. Hunting for a Game 1 Division series doesn’t guarantee a win, but it’s a big advantage.
Here are the final scores and schedule for Saturday’s playoff action.
To sum up all the game action, we are here to announce the winner and loser from each of the four games. You can find those authorities and unarguable statements as below.
Winner: Playoff Teo
Teoscar Hernández has 11 goals in 38 career playoff games
Despite the sweltering heat — the game-time temperature was 100 degrees in the second-hottest playoff first pitch ever — the offenses were pretty quiet in this one. It was a scoreless tie in the middle of the fourth inning. A one-out walk to Freddie Freeman set the table for one of the wildest playoff home run hitters in recent history, and Teoscar Hernández responded by going deep to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
That was 11 career playoff home runs for Hernández, including at least one in each of the last six of the season. He was most productive in the division circle. He is now 12 for 37 (.324) with four home runs and 12 RBI in 10 career NLDS games.
This season, this game continued the trend of Hernández’s passion at the plate lately. He was faced with the possibility of losing playing time in a squad situation in late August (manager Dave Roberts was also clearly considering it) and then something inside him woke up. In the last 25 regular season games, Hernandez hit .352/.433/.582 with four doubles, a triple, five home runs, 20 RBI and 15 runs.
It should be noted that despite a rough season overall, Kyle Tucker also got a hot streak. In his last 22 games, he hit .284/.365/.595 with six homers and 12 RBI. No, he added two runs for insurance in the sixth inning of the game. — Matt Snyder
Losers: All teams that Dodgers get Skubal
The Dodgers announced the acquisition of Tarik Skubal on Saturday
The Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions. Two-time defending AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal landed a trade deal in July when the Tigers threw in the towel. Would the rest of the friendly Tigers trade him to the Dodgers, right? Boy, if we were naive enough to ignore how strongly some teams wanted to embrace the prospect, they would rather do whatever it took to get some of the best pitchers in baseball (not to mention add him to their rotation).
Skubal went out and made his first Dodgers playoff start in Game 1 on Saturday and did not disappoint. It was a dirty change for him that felt unfair, as he drew eight offers out of 15 leads. His regular ol’ 98 mph fastball was there, too, with three of his minor pitches used in the breakup.
He absolutely bled through five scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. In the sixth, he hit a home run with a single and walked two before relocating the release point and putting men on base.
In all, Skubal struck out seven in six innings of fine work.
It bears repeating what we said in the days following the Dodgers’ acquisition of Skubalis: The move wasn’t just big in that it landed the Dodgers, it was doubly big in that it also prevented other teams from acquiring him. If the Braves, for example, traded Skubal, the Dodgers could very well have him on Saturday. But he was doing it for them. — Matt Snyder
Winner: Munetaka Murakami
Murakami capped a rough Wild Card Series with a game-changing home run on Saturday
There were questionsnot absurdly, about Munetaka Murakami’s chances of succeeding in the big leagues given his low contact and high strikeout rates in Japan. He didn’t quite answer those questions this season – Murakami hit .207 in the regular season and 198 after April – but his 35 home runs and 130 OPS+ were good enough for the hitters.
Murakami had a solid Wild Card Series against the Astros, going 1-for-8 with five strikeouts in two games, but had a “good time” in Game 1 against the Rangers. He hit a 440-foot two-run home run in the third inning to give the White Sox the only run they needed on the afternoon. Please enjoy the Japanese version of Murakami’s monster Homer:
Murakami’s home run came immediately after the Rangers squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the third. They squandered another chance with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning. The guards had the opportunity to enter the board and in fact they had an open picture of the game, but they did not do this. Murakami gave the White Sox the big swing they need to win this ALDS.
Chicago made it through the Wild Card Series without Murakami contributing much, but they will need it against Cleveland and through the squad. Your best players will have your best players in October, and, in Game 1, Murakami played the White Sox’s best player to hit the go-ahead home run. His game is indeed a game changer. — Mike Axis
Diet: regular season demons
It turns out that this happens from March to September, at least in October
White Sox righty Dona Taylor closed out Game 1 of the Wild Card Series with a seven-out, 54-pitch masterstroke against the Astros. He deserved our hypothetical Wild Card Series MVP award. That won’t even go down as Taylor’s best working season though. In Game 1 of the ALDS, he pitched in four innings to complete a 3-0 win over the Rangers.
Taylor struck out six and threw 42 pitches in Game 1 and produced an incredible 12 hits on 23 swings (52%). That’s the smell of the postseason rate, especially since Cleveland had a regular season rate in baseball on Thursday.
Taylor’s four-inning Game 1 save came after the Rangers beat him pretty well in the regular season. They tagged him for eight runs on nine hits and six walks in just 6 innings in six appearances. The Rangers walked Taylor twice — Brayan Rocchio had a hit both times — and beat him once in extra innings in Chicago. hey
With a regular-season track record, the Rangers couldn’t be blamed if they were confident when Taylor entered Game 1. They had the number all year. But Taylor shut them down and earned a four-inning lead off former Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. against the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS.
Remember, Sunday is the opposite of two ALDS matchups. Taylor will be rested after Game 1 and could be right back out there for Game 2 on Monday. — Mike Axis