Rasmussen silences Yankees as Brewers’ power surge shapes Division Series

The 2026 MLB postseason ramped up on Saturday with Game 1 in all four Division Series, and several clubs grabbed a significant early edge. Since the best-of-five format was introduced in 1995, teams that win the opener have gone on to take the series most of the time, making this first slate of games especially consequential.

Rasmussen flirts with no-hitter, Wells’ baserunning gamble backfires

In St. Petersburg, Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen delivered a dominant performance in a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees to open their ALDS. The rotation leader overwhelmed New York’s lineup, piling up 10 strikeouts and generating a huge number of swinging strikes while keeping the Yankees hitless deep into the night.

Tampa Bay broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning on a Jonathan Aranda home run, and Rasmussen immediately backed it up with a shutdown frame that set the tone. At one stretch he retired 15 straight batters and walked only two before finally yielding his first hit with two outs in the eighth, when Yankees catcher Austin Wells lined a double down the right-field line.

Instead of standing at second as the tying run, Wells turned it into a pivotal miscue. He tried to stretch the hit into a triple despite third base coach Luis Rojas clearly putting up the stop sign, and was thrown out to end the inning and the threat. Afterward he told reporters he was simply trying to be aggressive with two outs, while conceding he would have preferred to remain safely on second base in that situation.

Rasmussen’s first postseason start thus ended as an emphatic statement, complete with an elite Game Score and a 1-0 series lead for Tampa Bay. The Yankees now face an uphill climb, needing to reverse the historical trend that heavily favours teams who take Game 1.

Brewers lean on long ball as Padres and Ray stumble

In Milwaukee, the Brewers addressed their regular-season power shortage at the perfect time, using two big swings to edge the San Diego Padres 3-2 in their NLDS opener. Rising star Jackson Chourio erased an early deficit in the third inning, attacking the first pitch from left-hander Robbie Ray for a game-tying two-run homer.

That blast gave Chourio five career postseason home runs, the most in Brewers history. The game stayed tied into the seventh, when William Contreras worked a full count against lefty Adrian Morejon, saw a fourth straight sinker and launched it 406 feet for a go-ahead solo shot that put Milwaukee in front to stay against one of baseball’s most respected bullpens.

On the other side, Ray’s outing highlighted why San Diego’s rotation depth is such a concern. The trade-deadline pickup, whose underlying numbers had slipped since joining the Padres, allowed two runs on four hits in just 2 2/3 innings, with only one strikeout and two walks. His early exit forced manager Craig Stammen to lean heavily on the bullpen in Game 1, an uncomfortable position for a team already built around relief pitching.

Dodgers and White Sox also jump ahead in Game 1

In Los Angeles, the Dodgers opened their series against the Atlanta Braves with a 5-3 victory. With temperatures at first pitch among the hottest ever recorded for a playoff game, offence was scarce early until a Freddie Freeman walk in the fourth set the stage for Teoscar Hernández, who drilled a two-run homer to put L.A. on top 2-0. It was Hernández’s 11th career postseason home run in just 38 games, underscoring his reputation as a dangerous October hitter.

The Chicago White Sox completed the quartet of winners with a 3-0 shutout of the Cleveland Guardians to seize a 1-0 lead in their ALDS. With the Rays, Brewers, Dodgers and White Sox all striking first, each now holds the kind of advantage that historically translates into series wins as the 2026 Division Series continue.