2026 MLB division series Day 1: Live updates, lineups, analysis

It’s Day 1 of the MLB division series!

The Chicago White Sox started the four-game Day 1 off by shutting out the Cleveland Guardians. Then, in the second game of the day Tarik Skubal helped the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves. The Tampa Bay Rays downed the New York Yankees behind a dominant performance from ace Drew Rasmussen.

In the final game of the night, the San Diego Padres are taking on the No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee Brewers.

We’ve got you covered with pregame lineups, sights and sounds from the ballparks and postgame takeaways as each Day 1 matchup ends.

Key links: Mega-preview | Predictions | Bracket | Schedule

Jump to:
CHW-CLE | ATL-LAD | NYY-TB | SD-MIL

Sights and sounds

We have all the best moments from the ballparks as the division series begins.

Padres-Brewers

Follow live with pitch-by-pitch coverage

Padres add to their early lead

FIRE US UP pic.twitter.com/JfJsOIZs6W
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 4, 2026

Padres strike first in Milwaukee

Luis Campusano and the @Padres strike first off of Jacob Misiorowski 💪 pic.twitter.com/JR0pT5EXE0
— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2026

Miz is bringing the heat

104.8 MPH fastball
104.6 MPH fastball
102.8 MPH fastball
90.6 MPH slider
Jacob Misiorowski is NASTY 😤 https://t.co/UdpXrCSw7h pic.twitter.com/fFZJN6m80Q
— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2026

Takeaways

Tampa Bay leads series 1-0

It was over when … Jonathan Aranda swatted a 2-2 changeup from Gerrit Cole over the right-field wall in the third inning. It was just a solo home run. The Yankees had six innings to match it. But they couldn’t because Drew Rasmussen was that good. New York mustered just ONE HIT and two walks against the right-hander over eight innings before Bryan Baker slammed the door on the win. Yankees batters piled up 12 strikeouts (10 against Rasmussen). That 18-run explosion in their wild-card round against the Red Sox suddenly seems like a distant memory.

Player who defined the game: Rasmussen’s dominance of the Yankees — he owned a 1.81 career ERA against them entering Saturday — continued Saturday. He was on his way to delivering the fourth no-hitter in postseason history until Austin Wells cracked a line drive that landed on the chalk down the right-field line. But Wells then tried to stretch the easy double into a triple and was thrown out by several feet.

Otherwise, the Yankees had one baserunner reach second base — Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked and stole second in the second inning. The Yankees barely touched Rasmussen and now face an 0-1 hole. — Jorge Castillo

Key moments from Tampa Bay’s win:

There goes the no-no — but Wells gets thrown out on the bases

Austin Wells delivered the Yankees’ first hit with a line drive that landed on the chalk down the right-field line, but he gets thrown out by several feet attempting to stretch it into a triple to end the eighth inning. A brutal mistake.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) October 4, 2026

Mesa protect this house #ForTampaBay | #Postseason pic.twitter.com/v7surKX3lV
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 4, 2026

Rasmussen’s no-hit bid now through seven innings

Drew Rasmussen has 10 strikeouts through seven no-hit innings and his pitch count is at 94.

13 straight retired
7 no-hit innings
Drew Rasmussen is DEALING 😤 https://t.co/qdlZWajtFO pic.twitter.com/C4jYxTIwgI
— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2026

Cole’s night is done

Gerrit Cole’s night is over after throwing 82 pitches in five innings. Ryan Weathers gets the sixth for the Yankees.
Cole’s final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) October 4, 2026

Rasmussen is dealing for Rays

Drew Rasmussen is through 6 no-hit innings at Tropicana Field 👀 pic.twitter.com/cAEjuUFk5v
— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2026

Aranda’s blast gives Rays game’s first lead

Jonathan Aranda … WAY OUT OF HERE 🔥@RaysBaseball strikes first in the ALDS! pic.twitter.com/QRfUtgxCo7
— MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2026

Boos are raining down already at the Trop

Tropicana Field is packed and loud. There’s a large contingent of Yankees fans here, but Rays fans drowned them out with boos while the Yankees were introduced.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) October 3, 2026

Los Angeles leads series 1-0

It was over when … Kyle Tucker got a fastball out over the plate and lifted it over the right-field wall. The Braves had cut their deficit to a single run in the prior half-inning, doing enough damage against Tarik Skubal to chase him out of the game. But then Tucker followed with a 408-foot two-run homer off AJ Smith-Shawver to make it a 4-1 game and give the Dodgers some cushion.

It was especially meaningful that Tucker provided it. His first year in L.A. was a disaster, especially at home, where he managed just two home runs through the month of August. But Tucker started to make some real progress with his swing in September. The Dodgers were hopeful that it would carry over into October. It seemingly has.

Player who defined the game: When the Dodgers dipped into their farm system to acquire Tarik Skubal ahead of the trade deadline, he was considered superfluous. As the next two months played out, with the offense struggling and Shohei Ohtani unavailable to pitch, Skubal began to look like a necessity. And after the smoke cleared on Game 1 of this NLDS, it became clear that he will be a lynchpin in the Dodgers’ hopes of becoming the first NL team to three-peat as World Series champions.

Outside of a Sean Murphy home run, Skubal dominated the Braves despite pitching in 100-degree heat, consistently flirting with triple digits with his fastball and keeping hitters off balance with an excellent changeup. Before Murphy took him deep to begin the sixth inning, Skubal had retired 15 in a row, seven via strikeout.

What a Dodgers win means for Game 2: A lot about Sunday’s Game 2 will be dictated by the Braves’ pitching plans, particularly whether their ace, Chris Sale, is available for them. If Sale does start, it means he’d be lined up to start again on normal rest in a potential decisive Game 5. If he doesn’t, it means the Braves will probably have to cobble together another bullpen game.

Manager Walt Weiss made it seem more likely that Sale would be pushed to Game 3 in Atlanta, given the four outs he recorded out of the bullpen in Game 3 of the wild-card round on Thursday night. But maybe the Braves losing Game 1, along with Sale doing some convincing, changes things.

Regardless, the Braves’ offense will have to solve another two-time-Cy-Young Award-winning lefty in Blake Snell on Sunday. There’s a reason the Dodgers are heavy favorites. — Alden Gonzalez

Key moments from Los Angeles’ win:

Braves cut deficit to 2 with blast from Albies in 9th — but it’s not enough

Ozzie Albies makes things interesting with a 2-run shot in the 9th 👀 pic.twitter.com/CU4fZ3ixSY
— MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2026

Tucker homers to give Dodgers 3-run lead

KING TUCK. 👑 pic.twitter.com/O6rvprvqZQ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 3, 2026

Murphy’s home run pulls Braves within 1 run of L.A.

Sean Murphy gets a run back for the Braves! pic.twitter.com/gnYVw8YD7A
— MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2026

Dodgers get on board first with 2-run blast from Hernandez

ALL EYES ON TEOSCAR. pic.twitter.com/JCf9KweGs8
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 3, 2026

Skubal answers with 3 K’s of his own

Tarik Skubal strikes out the side in the 3rd inning! pic.twitter.com/5EOwU9BX1Q
— MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2026

Dodd strikes out the side for Atlanta

🔥🔥🔥#LetItFly pic.twitter.com/Bkr5NMsHo8
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 3, 2026

Chicago leads series 1-0

It was over when … Munetaka Murakami turned on a Parker Messick sinker and launched it 440 feet at 112.2 mph off the bat, a blast that put the White Sox up 2-0. The blow came minutes after Chicago’s Bryan Hudson got Chase DeLauter on a fly ball to escape a base-loaded jam to end the third. There was a lot of game left at that point, but that sequence set the tone and the Guardians never really recovered.

Stat that defined the game: 6. That’s the inning in which White Sox skipper Will Venable summoned Grant Taylor from the bullpen. Chicago led 2-0 at the time, and keep in mind, insofar as the White Sox have a closer, Taylor is the guy. But Venable has managed his team in playoff mode for weeks now, so of course Taylor laid four zeroes on Cleveland.

Per ESPN Research, his four-inning save is the third postseason save of four-plus innings pitched since 2000, joining Lance McCullers Jr. (2017) and Madison Bumgarner (2014 World Series) — and it’s the first four-inning save in Game 1 of a postseason series since saves became official in 1969.

It was a relief performance straight out of the 1970s. Goose Gossage and Sparky Lyle had to be proud.

What it means for the rest of the series: The White Sox showed how tough their pitching staff can be when playing from ahead. As mentioned, they have been in this mode for a lot of games by now, putting all their available resources into winning the game in front of them. Then they figure out the next game when it arrives. Cleveland needs to jump on the White Sox early so the Guardians, not Venable, can dictate how the game will be played. — Bradford Doolittle

Key moments from Chicago’s win:

White Sox shut out Guardians in Game 1