By Field Level Media
Sep 30 (Field Level Media) – Austin Riley’s three-run homer capped a two-out rally in the eighth inning and lifted the host Atlanta Braves to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in a back-and-forth opening game of the best-of-three National League wild-card series on Tuesday.
Braves starter Chris Sale left with one out in the sixth inning, with runners on the corners and Atlanta up 2-1. J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple off Didier Fuentes put Philadelphia in front, but the Phillies couldn’t hold the lead.
Jhoan Duran (0-1), who converted 33 of 35 save opportunities in the regular season, retired the first five batters he faced before yielding the Braves’ three-run uprising in the eighth.
Atlanta’s Dylan Lee (1-0) tossed a scoreless eighth, and Raisel Iglesias handled the ninth for a save.
Yankees 9, Red Sox 0
Cam Schlittler fanned 10 in 6 1/3 dominant innings while Ben Rice homered twice and drove in six runs as New York pulled away for a rout of visiting Boston in Game 1 of an American League wild-card series.
Schlittler (1-0) allowed just three baserunners, two singles and a walk. His 117 pitches were a career high. Rice went 4-for-5, including a solo homer in the fifth inning and a grand slam in the eighth. George Lombard Jr. had three hits and two runs.
Red Sox starter Payton Tolle (0-1) allowed one run on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Boston managed just three hits.
Astros 6, White Sox 3
Colson Montgomery slugged a home run in his postseason debut as visiting Chicago defeated Houston in Game 1 of an American League wild-card series.
Braden Montgomery, Randal Grichuk and Chase Meidroth recorded multi-hit games for the White Sox. Chicago last won a postseason series when it swept the Astros in the 2005 World Series.
Jordan Hicks (1-0), the second of five Chicago pitchers, threw 1 1/3 shutout innings. Grant Taylor closed it out, permitting just an unearned run 2 1/3 innings. Nelson Velazquez hit a two-run homer for the Astros.
Padres 8, Cubs 0
Michael King allowed one hit through seven scoreless innings and Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts homered as San Diego routed visiting Chicago in Game 1 of a National League wild-card series.
Tatis scored three times and joined Machado (two runs, two RBIs), Jackson Merrill (two RBIs), Ty France and Bogaerts with two hits apiece as San Diego jumped ahead in the best-of-three series.
Chicago’s Matthew Boyd (0-1) served up three homers on changeups while allowing four runs and five hits over four innings.
(–Field Level Media)
