Zach McKinstry’s broken-bat RBI single with two outs in the top of the 11th inning broke a tie as the Detroit Tigers defeated host Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Saturday night in the opener of their best-of-five American League Division Series.
Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer for the Tigers, who are set to send ace Tarik Skubal to the mound in Game 2 on Sunday.
Will Vest (1-0) pitched two innings of scoreless relief for the victory and Keider Montero worked the 11th for the first save of his career. Right-hander Troy Melton, a rookie making his fifth career start for Detroit, went four innings and gave up one run on two hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Julio Rodriguez homered and had a run-scoring single for Seattle. Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh both went 3-for-5, but the rest of the lineup was 0-for-28.
Mariners starter George Kirby allowed two runs on six hits over five innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out eight.
Blue Jays 10, Yankees 1
Alejandro Kirk cracked two solo homers and host Toronto scored eight runs in its final two innings to turn a taut ALDS Game 1 into a convincing victory that marked its first postseason win since 2016.
Vladimir Guerrero added three hits, including his first postseason home run, for the Blue Jays while Nathan Lukes drove in three runs. Kevin Gausman (1-0) allowed four hits and one run over 5 2/3 innings while Louis Varland struck out Giancarlo Stanton with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth to preserve a 2-1 edge.
Yankees starter Luis Gil (0-1) surrendered solo homers to Guerrero and Kirk before leaving with two outs in the third. New York loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth, but Gausman fanned Aaron Judge (2-for-4) on a full-count pitch out of the zone. Cody Bellinger walked to force in New York’s run, but Gausman induced an infield fly from Ben Rice before Varland entered and fanned Stanton.
Brewers 9, Cubs 3
Ace right-hander Freddy Peralta shook off a leadoff homer and pitched effectively into the sixth inning to pace Milwaukee to a big win over Chicago in the opener of their best-of-five National League Division Series.
Cubs starter Matthew Boyd (0-1) failed to get out of a six-run Milwaukee first inning. The Brewers added three runs in the second, batting around in both innings to go in front 9-1. Peralta (1-0), who led the NL with 17 victories during the regular season, allowed two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out nine and walking three in a 95-pitch outing.
He allowed the opening homer by Michael Busch and a two-out solo homer in the sixth by Ian Happ after Milwaukee had built a 9-1 lead. Helping that offensive effort were Jackson Chourio, who had three hits and three RBIs from the leadoff spot, and Caleb Durbin, who knocked in two runs in the Brewers’ big second inning.
Dodgers 5, Phillies 3
Teoscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to lift visiting Los Angeles to a victory over Philadelphia in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani uncharacteristically allowed three runs on the mound and struck out four times, but Los Angeles rallied against left-hander Cristopher Sanchez and the Phillies.
Sanchez gave up two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings before David Robertson (0-1) and Matt Strahm combined to surrender the lead. Ohtani (1-0) allowed three runs and three hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out nine in his first career postseason start as a pitcher.
