The 2026 MLB postseason officially got underway Tuesday, with the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres each taking Game 1 of their respective best-of-three Wild Card Series.
For the Yankees and Padres, dominant starting pitching combined with explosive offense produced a pair of shutouts. In Atlanta, the Braves needed one swing from Austin Riley to turn what appeared headed toward a Phillies victory into a dramatic postseason comeback.
The Yankees opened their latest postseason chapter against their biggest rival with a statement, shutting out the Boston Red Sox 9-0 at Yankee Stadium.
With Aaron Judge sidelined by a calf injury, Ben Rice became the centerpiece of the Yankees offense. The left-handed slugger went 4-for-5 with two home runs and six RBIs, including an eighth-inning grand slam that turned the game into a rout.
Rice wasn’t alone.
Twenty-one-year-old George Lombard Jr. collected three hits in his postseason debut, while Austin Wells drove in two runs as New York finished with 12 hits.
But the biggest story on the mound was Cam Schlittler.
The Yankees right-hander overwhelmed Boston, allowing only two hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out 10 and walking just one. The Red Sox managed only three hits for the entire game as New York grabbed a 1-0 series lead.
The afternoon in Atlanta produced considerably more drama.
Philadelphia jumped ahead early when Alec Bohm doubled home Kyle Schwarber in the first inning. The Braves tied it in the second before Ozzie Albies’ RBI triple in the sixth put Atlanta ahead 2-1.
The Phillies answered in the seventh when J.T. Realmuto delivered a two-run triple, putting Philadelphia back in front 3-2 and seemingly positioning the Phillies to steal Game 1 on the road.
Then came Austin Riley.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Michael Harris II singled and Albies was hit by a pitch, bringing Riley to the plate against Phillies closer Jhoan Duran. Riley jumped on the first pitch and drove it 385 feet to right-center for a three-run homer, instantly turning Philadelphia’s 3-2 advantage into a 5-3 Atlanta lead.
Raisel Iglesias worked the ninth to finish off the comeback and give Atlanta a 1-0 series advantage.
Riley’s heroics came after the third baseman endured one of the most difficult offensive seasons of his career, hitting .219 with a .290 on-base percentage and .364 slugging percentage during the regular season.
The pitching matchup had been strong on both sides. Chris Sale struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings for Atlanta, while Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo returned from a late-season shoulder issue to allow only one run and three hits across five innings with six strikeouts.
Harris finished 3-for-3 with two runs for Atlanta, while Philadelphia managed six hits and went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Out West, the San Diego Padres wasted absolutely no time putting the Chicago Cubs in trouble.
Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed Matthew Boyd’s first pitch of the game 405 feet to center field, becoming the first Padres player to hit a leadoff home run in a postseason game.
Manny Machado followed with another first-inning homer, and San Diego never looked back.
Machado added an RBI double in the third, Xander Bogaerts homered in the fourth and Jackson Merrill delivered a two-run single in the fifth as the Padres rolled to an 8-0 victory at Petco Park.
While San Diego’s offense piled up 13 hits, Michael King nearly made all of that run support unnecessary.
King took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against a Cubs lineup that finished the regular season as MLB’s highest-scoring offense. Nico Hoerner finally broke it up with a one-out infield single, but King completed seven scoreless innings allowing just the one hit while striking out eight.
Tatis finished 2-for-3 and scored three times, including a spectacular run in the seventh after stealing second and racing all the way home when the throw escaped into center field.
The Padres ultimately held Chicago to three hits in the 8-0 shutout and moved one victory away from advancing to the NL Division Series.
After one day of Wild Card baseball, the pressure has shifted dramatically.
Boston must now find a way to slow down a Yankees lineup that produced nine runs without Judge while figuring out Schlittler and New York’s pitching staff. Philadelphia has to recover from watching a late lead disappear on Riley’s three-run blast. Chicago, meanwhile, must regroup after one of baseball’s most productive offenses was nearly no-hit by King.
That’s the unforgiving nature of the three-game Wild Card format.
One night into October baseball, the Yankees, Braves and Padres are already one win away from moving on—and the Red Sox, Phillies and Cubs are one loss away from going home.
