The 2026 Major League Baseball postseason got underway with four Wild Card Series Game 1s on Tuesday. Since each Wild Card Series is a best-of-three affair, these were especially critical Game 1s. Here are the final scores and schedule for Tuesday’s wall-to-wall playoff action so far:
To sum up all the Game 1 action, we’re here to declare a winner and loser from each of the four games. You can find those authoritative and inarguable declarations just below.
Winner: Cam Schlittler, Yankees
The presumptive AL Cy Young winner — in fact, he might win the thing unanimously — continues to own the Red Sox, his childhood favorite team. In four regular-season starts, Schlittler has a 0.74 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 24 ⅓ innings against Boston. Last year in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, Schlittler worked eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 against no walks, almost willing the Yankees to the ALDS. This time around, he got the ball in Game 1 and was just as dominant, even if less efficient.
Schilttler on Tuesday night in Yankee Stadium allowed only two hits in 6 ⅓ scoreless innings, walking one and striking out 10.
In a twist, Schlittler, who is usually heavily reliant on his variations of fastballs (fourseam, cutter, sinker) was much more heavy-handed with his curveball this time around. In the regular season, he threw his curve only 9.8% of the time. On Tuesday night in Game 1, Schilttler threw 32 curves out of his 117 pitches (27%). He got six called strikes and eight whiffs on the offering, keeping the Red Sox off-balance when their game plan surely involved attacking the fastball.
He wasn’t quite as efficient as he was last year, failing to finish the seventh inning, but the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen is much sturdier this season.
Loser: Red Sox offense
Sure, the Red Sox were tasked with facing a dominant starting pitcher, but that happens in the playoffs. Adley Rutschman worked a good at-bat in the first inning and singled, but the team managed only two hits after that. They took one walk. They struck out 10 times. The first three hitters in the order were a combined 1 for 9 with six strikeouts.
Speaking of which, Roman Anthony started the game in the leadoff spot. The promising youngster was supposed to be a breakout star this season and instead spent most of it on the injured list. He returned Aug. 30 and hit .262/.321/.476 in his 25 games before the playoffs. In the last week and a half, he started to look the part, going 10 for 30 with four doubles, a triple and a home run.
In Tuesday’s Game 1, he struck out to lead off the game, struck out again in his second at-bat and was removed for a pinch-hitter the third time around. Manager Chad Tracy said afterward that Anthony’s hand, the same one that had him on the shelf most of the season, “flared” up on a check swing.
If the Red Sox are to come back in the series, they need more from Anthony — and everyone else.
Winner: San Diego
The city of San Diego long ago lost their NBA team and somewhat recently lost their NFL team. They still have their beloved Padres, though, and they were treated to wins in 17 of the Padres’ final 20 games.
It appears that was only the beginning.
The Padres offense was humming from the start, as Fernando Tatis Jr. homered on the first pitch from Cubs starter Matthew Boyd. Manny Machado homered later in the first inning and Xander Bogaerts added his own in the fourth. Things moved into blowout territory in the fifth inning when the Padres scored three runs with two outs to run the score to 7-0.
Petco Park was rocking.
It wasn’t just the offense, of course. Padres starting pitcher Michael King put on an absolute clinic with his entire arsenal, but particularly with his wicked two-seam fastball that was running from in off the plate to over the inside corner against lefties and vexing righties all the same. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and seemed to barely break a sweat in doing so. His final line: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K.
What’s more, the Padres’ blowout through seven innings meant they didn’t have to dip into any of their stellar late-inning leverage relievers. They are all rested for Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3. Pitchers like Mason Miller and Adrián Morejón could even get more than three outs if it comes down to it.
Then there’s Joe Musgrove, who worked a scoreless ninth inning in his first MLB appearance in almost exactly two years as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
The entire Padres team earned this thing with the most dominant victory of the day. It was a party from start to finish for the fans fortunate enough to be in the stands and the entire city is armed and ready for a deep postseason run. Their team sure looked the part on Tuesday.
Loser: Cubs fans
A poor final week for the Cubs meant they had lost the No. 4 seed to the Padres by one game (with the Cubs holding the tiebreaker), so instead of likely afternoon baseball in Wrigley Field, Cubs fans were instead subjected to a late game with their morning alarm clocks lying in wait.
And then they had to watch the game.
Starter Matthew Boyd hadn’t allowed a home run in over a month and his changeup in particular had been incredibly difficult to hit into the stands this season. He coughed up three homers on the change in the first three innings in Game 1.
Offensively, the Cubs led the majors in runs scored and OPS in the regular season. And they were utterly embarrassed in this one. They didn’t get a hit until there was one out in the seventh, an infield hit by Nico Hoerner.
Defensively, the Cubs allowed Tatis to go from first to home on a stolen base in the seventh, as the throw got away at second base and bled into left field. Tatis never even slowed down and scored with a huge celebration. As much as it was a party in the stands, it was an embarrassment for the visitors.
It was a pretty pathetic all-around display. Sure, the Padres were hot coming in, but the Cubs took five of six from San Diego in the regular season and have enough talent to hang with anyone. Things should never be this flat in Game 1 of a playoff series. It was unacceptable and fans had their night — and possibly Wednesday morning — ruined.
Winner: Austin Riley, Braves
The postseason has barely begun, and already the Atlanta third baseman has made it one to remember — at least for himself and his Braves teammates. With the hosts down 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth and two on with two outs, Riley stepped in against lockdown closer Jhoan Duran, who was in his second inning of work. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto set up for a fastball outside, and Duran unfurled it at 99.9 mph. However, he missed his spot and left it center-cut. Riley, who endured a frankly terrible 2026 regular season at the plate, didn’t miss this time:
The ball left the bat at 104.6 mph and traveled 385 feet to right center. Before Riley took that swing, the Braves had a 28.5% chance of winning Game 1. When the ball landed, the Braves had a 92.9% chance of winning, which they did. As the CBS Sports Research Desk notes, Riley has now homered in three of his last four postseason games against the Phillies. Overall, it was Riley’s sixth home run in his 37 career postseason games.
Loser: Trea Turner, Phillies
Sure, one could home in on Jhoan Duran for this dishonor, but, really, his extended high-leverage relief outing turned on one bad pitch. One could perhaps ding Phillies manager Don Mattingly for stretching Duran and calling upon him in the seventh. That, though, doesn’t seem fair. Duran is the Phillies’ best reliever, and Mattingly called upon him to get some critical outs against the heart of the Atlanta order. It didn’t work out, but it’s an eminently defensible decision.
Instead, the “loser” designation for this game goes to Turner. Not only did Turner go 0 for 3 with the plate (he reached once, via HBP), but he also got picked off by Chris Sale in a game where Philly baserunners were hard to come by (it was just the second successful pick-off by Sale all year).
In the critical eighth, Turner played a key role in keeping the inning going and letting Riley bat. He’s been miscast as a shortstop for years now, but his fielding in 2026 has reached new depths, whether your source is any of the advanced metrics or the eye test. With two outs, Michael Harris II tapped a slow-bouncing grounder that had an expected batting average of .220. Harris II is fast, but a shortstop with any kind of an arm — Turner’s arm does not belong on the left side of the infield — probably nips him at first to end the inning.
Instead, Turner made a terrible throw that almost went into the dugout. Following that play, Ozzie Albies was plunked, and then Riley hit his game-turning homer. If the Phillies had an adequate shortstop, the inning perhaps never gets that far.
Winner: The Pope
And also the White Sox, obviously. They went into Daikin Park, an intimidating postseason venue for visitors, and took the crowd right out of it. One run in the first, two runs in the second, and off they went. Every player in Chicago’s starting lineup had reached base at least once by the top of the fifth inning.
The real winner, though? Pope Leo XIV, of course. Game 1 ended around 2:25 a.m. Vatican time, so the Pope may have to wait until he checks the morning paper — L’Osservatore Romano needs a White Sox beat writer at this point, no? — to see the final score, but he’ll like what he sees when he does. The White Sox are up 1-0 in the best-of-three series.
Before the postseason, Pope Leo sent the White Sox a letter in which he wrote, “I willingly invoke the Almighty’s abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones.” Is that fair? It doesn’t seem fair. The White Sox are using a PEP — performance-enhancing pope.
Pope Leo, born Robert Prevost, was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side. He is a White Sox fan through and through. He was even spotted in the crowd during the television broadcast of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. There are superfans and then, well, there’s the Pope. The White Sox have the right man backing them this postseason.
In all seriousness, the White Sox out-bullpen-gamed the Astros in Game 1 and received contributions from up and down the lineup. Five of their starting position players reached base multiple times and four drove in a run. Chicago really had the grind the last few weeks of the regular season to get here, but now that they’re here, they’re showing everyone they can really play.
Loser: Houston’s bullpen game
Look, the Astros didn’t want to run a bullpen game in Game 1 (neither did the White Sox). They had to because they simply did not have a starter available. Hunter Brown threw 100 pitches on Friday. Hayden Wesneski threw 82 pitches on Saturday. Peter Lambert threw 41 pitches on Sunday after throwing 62 pitches on Thursday. Cristian Javier is on the injured list. I think the Astros would go back to calling themselves the Colt .45s before trusting Tatsuya Imai to start a postseason game. Options were limited.
Unfortunate circumstances, indeed, but the bottom line is the Astros went with a bullpen game in Game 1, and it went terribly. They used eight relievers, four of whom were charged with a run, and four of whom threw at least 22 pitches. The bullpen game went poorly because the Astros lost, first and foremost, and also because several of the pitchers they used were used in a way that could impact his availability and/or effectiveness for Game 2 on Wednesday. That isn’t great.
I understand the strategy and I understand it was born out of necessity, but dueling bullpen games in Game 1 was such a drag. That isn’t what postseason baseball should be. I did not enjoy the White Sox’s bullpen game. They did at least win the game, though. The Astros won baseball’s weakest division with an 81-81 record and didn’t have a credible No. 4-5 type starter who could start Game 1 in a pinch. Game 1 and Houston’s overall play is an excellent argument that too many teams get into the tournament.
