The 2024 MLB postseason rolls on with the start of the best-of-five Division Series on Saturday. Three of the wild-card round series ended in 2-0 sweeps, with the Tigers, Royals and Padres having two days off to set their lineups and rotations for the next round, while the Mets needed three games to eliminate the Brewers.
Saturday’s Game 1s are being played in Cleveland and New York (AL), and Philadelphia and Los Angeles (NL). Both National League Division Series will play Game 2 on Sunday, and both American League Division Series will continue with Game 2 on Monday.
Which teams will take an early lead en route to the league Championship Series? Follow along with live updates, highlights and more below.
Mets 6, Phillies 2
The Phillies and Mets played two games on Saturday.
The first was a Zack Wheeler gem. The Phillies starter mowed down the Mets lineup for seven straight innings, striking out nine and allowing only one hit. After a Kyle Schwarber leadoff homer, it was looking like that was all the Phillies would need, thanks to their ace and their stacked bullpen.
Then that bullpen took over in the eighth inning and got ground into a fine paste. Jeff Hoffman (2.17 regular-season ERA), Matt Strahm (1.87 ERA) and Orion Kerkering (2.29 ERA) allowed seven straight Mets to reach base and/or drive in a run. By the end of the frame, the Mets were up 5-1, and Citizen Banks Park had gone from raucous to silent.
Cleveland started the game strong, with a five-run first inning highlighted by Lane Thomas’ three-run homer. Thomas sent Reese Olson’s first relief pitch over the left-field wall. Olson calmed things down over the next several innings, but the Guardians got to reliever Sean Guenther in the bottom of the sixth, when David Fry’s two-run double extended their lead to 7-0.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee went 4 2/3 innings and allowed zero runs on four hits while striking out six batters.
Here’s a look at the four Game 1s and how you can watch:
Live97 updates
SD-LAD: Padres respond with Xander Bogaerts 2-run double
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on the verge of another scoreless inning, but then Jackson Merrill worked a walk out of an 0-2 count and Xander Bogaerts followed with double down the left-field line to score two. Ryan Brasier is now warming to replace Yamamoto, who is at 57 pitches with two outs.
KC-NYY: Luke Weaver protects a 6–5 lead
After Tommy Kahnle issues a 2-out walk to Garrett Hampson, Yankees manager Aaron Boone brings in Luke Weaver.
Weaver strikes out Maikel Garcia to get out of the 8th inning and protect a 6–5 lead.
Weaver will likely pitch the 9th for a four-out save opportunity.
SD-LAD: Pitch count suddenly a concern for Dylan Cease
Through two innings, Dylan Cease has allowed three runs, and thrown 54 pitches. The Padres ace can have those kind of innings, but San Diego suddenly needs him to become dominant again.
SD-LAD: Welcome to the playoffs, Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani went 12-for-14 with RISP in his last nine games of the regular season. With runners on first and second and two outs, he gets another hit: a game-tying home run. Dodger Stadium is happy.
KC-NYY: Yankees back on top, 6–5
Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the 7th inning for the Yankees with a single. He got to second on a stolen base that was held up after a replay challenge by the Royals.
Two batters later, Alex Verdugo drove in Chisholm for a 6-5 lead.
That chased Michael Lorenzen, who gave up one run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. (The game-tying run was charged to Sam Long.) Lucas Erceg takes over for the Royals.
SD-LAD: Yamamoto bounces back with 1-2-3 2nd
After a rough first inning, Yamamoto retires the side on just 12 pitches, finishing with a rare strikeout of Luis Arraez. He needed that.
KC-NYY: Yankees tie the game 5–5 in the 6th
Austin Wells drives in Alex Verdugo to tie the score at 5–5.
SD-LAD: Dylan Cease finishes an adventurous but scoreless first
After Ohtani, Mookie Betts walked and Freddie Freeman singled (nine days after spraining his ankle), but Cease gets out of the inning scoreless.
SD-LAD: Shohei Ohtani flies out in first playoff at-bat
Ohtani fell behind 0-2, worked it to 2-2, then hit a high, but not deep, fly ball to right on an elevated fastball.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Dodger debut: 5 runs in the first inning, vs. the Padres.
Yamamoto’s Dodger playoff debut: 3 runs in the first inning, vs. the Padres.
Allowing a three-run first inning would be bad for any team, but it’s particularly ominous for the Dodgers. They might have had the best record in MLB this season at 98-64, but their rotation for this series is basically held together by duct tape after a glut of injuries.
Yamamoto made only four starts after returning from a rotator cuff injury in September, Jack Flaherty looked off in his last few starts of the regular season, Walker Buehler has been extraordinarily inconsistent when he’s been on the mound, and Landon Knack is a rookie who was never ranked as a top prospect.
So a hit, a walk, a run-scoring groundout and a homer isn’t the start you want to see if you’re L.A. Yamamoto ended up throwing 28 pitches in that inning.
SD-LAD: Manny Machado HRs to put the Padres up 3-0
It hasn’t been the best start for Yamamoto. Machado smashes a splitter high and deep to left field and watches it fly for a while before rounding the bases. The team with the best record in MLB since the All-Star break is up three.
SD-LAD: Padres strike first
Jurickson Profar grounds out to first for the first out of the game, but that’s enough to score Arraez and give the Padres a 1-0 lead. Still a runner in scoring position for SD.
SD-LAD: Yamamoto already in trouble
Yoshinobu Yamamoto allows a leadoff single to Luis Arraez, who takes both second and third on wild pitches, then he walks Fernando Tatis Jr. to put runners on the corners with no outs. Earlier opportunity for the Padres to do some damage.
SD-LAD getting started
Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a 97 mph fastball for a strike, and we’re off in Los Angeles.
Royals take the lead right back
Pinch hitter Garrett Hampson comes through with a single through the gap to score both runners. It’s now 5-4 Royals. Clay Holmes is coming in for Hill.
Tommy Pham hits a potential double-play ball to short, and Anthony Volpe almost makes a great play, but his throw to second goes wide right. Right after losing the lead, the Royals have runners on second and third with one out.
Gerrit Cole gets the hook
Cole allows a single to Yuli Gurriel to open the sixth inning, and that will be all he gets. In comes Tim Hill for the Yankees.
John Schreiber punches out Oswaldo Cabrera to end the inning. The Royals lost the lead, but that could have been a lot worse (see: Phillies, earlier today).
