Yankees, White Sox, Braves and Padres are one win from the Division Series

Game 1 scores: four favorites, three of them in blowouts

The best-of-three Wild Card Series opened Tuesday, Sept. 29, with all four games at the higher seed's park. The higher seed won three of them, and the lone road winner was the White Sox. Every Game 1 winner is now one win from the Division Series.

Seeds in parentheses. Game 2s are Wednesday, Sept. 30; any Game 3 is Thursday, Oct. 1. All games on NBC, Peacock and NBC Sports platforms.

Yankees 9, Red Sox 0: Schlittler is doing it again

Cam Schlittler, who led the American League with a 1.95 ERA and is the likely AL Cy Young winner, struck out 10 over 6⅓ scoreless innings. Boston managed two singles and a walk against him and never got a runner to second base. The game was tight until the Yankees scored two in the seventh and five in the eighth, capped by a Ben Rice grand slam. Rice homered twice, doubled and finished with four hits, which mattered because New York is playing without Aaron Judge (calf). Schlittler and Rice both grew up in the Boston suburbs, which the Boston papers noticed.

White Sox 6, Astros 3: Chicago's first playoff win since 2021

In a battle of bullpen games in Houston, the White Sox never trailed. They scored three in the second, Colson Montgomery hit a 432-foot solo homer in the fourth, and Sam Antonacci drove in two. Nelson Velázquez's two-run homer in the fifth was Houston's only real answer, and the Astros went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Houston has to win Wednesday to force a Game 3.

Braves 5, Phillies 3: Riley does Riley things

This one swung back and forth. Philadelphia scored first, Atlanta tied it in the second and led in the sixth, and J.T. Realmuto's two-run triple put the Phillies back in front in the seventh. Then, with two outs in the eighth, Austin Riley hit a 99.9 mph fastball over the right-center-field wall for a three-run, go-ahead homer. Four of Riley's six career postseason homers have given his team the lead. Chris Sale set postseason career highs with 6⅓ innings and nine strikeouts, and Jesús Luzardo, back from shoulder inflammation, gave the Phillies five innings of one-run ball.

Padres 8, Cubs 0: King almost made history

Michael King struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman in the first, and Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado homered off Matthew Boyd in the bottom half. King carried a no-hitter through six and allowed one hit in seven innings. Xander Bogaerts added a 399-foot homer and Jackson Merrill a two-run single. It was the largest shutout win in Padres postseason history.

What to watch in Game 2

• Can Boston hit at all? The Red Sox lineup stalled late in the season and got nothing on Tuesday. Down 1-0 on the road, they need early runs.
• Houston's bullpen math. After a bullpen game in Game 1, the Astros have to cover Game 2 and possibly Game 3 without burning out.
• Phillies' late innings. The Phillies led in the seventh and lost it in the eighth. Whoever closes Wednesday decides the series.
• Cubs' stars. Crow-Armstrong and Bregman were quiet. A Cubs comeback starts with them.

The athlete angle: what makes a playoff pitcher last

Schlittler, King and Sale all went six-plus innings in October, and none of that happens without offseason strength work. Pitchers train the posterior chain (hinges, split squats), the upper back and the rotator cuff, and they build rotational power with medicine-ball throws. Most of them lift two or three times a week in season to hold on to that strength. If you want to train the same qualities, start with our Romanian deadlift guide and our functional fitness workout.