Four series, nine games, three days. That’s all it took to trim the field from 12 to 8, and only one matchup bothered to go the distance.
The headline belongs to the South Side. The Chicago White Sox walked into Houston, beat the Astros twice, and won their first postseason series since the 2005 World Series, which they won against, of all teams, Houston. The Yankees put together the most lopsided Wild Card Series anyone has seen, outscoring Boston 18-2. San Diego’s pitchers made the highest-scoring offense in baseball disappear. And in Atlanta, the Braves and Phillies needed extra innings and a Game 3 before the Braves finally pulled away behind a big first inning and a vintage Chris Sale cameo out of the bullpen.
American League
White Sox 2, Astros 0
Game 1: White Sox 6, Astros 3 · Game 2: White Sox 7, Astros 3
The White Sox never trailed in this series, and Game 2 was decided before most of Daikin Park had settled in. Houston ace Hunter Brown got exactly two outs. Sam Antonacci doubled and scored on a Kyle Teel single, Miguel Vargas reached on an error, and Andrew Benintendi singled home two more. Two Astros errors in the first inning didn’t help, and it was 4-0 before Houston came to bat.
The Astros fought back the only way they seemed to know how: solo homers. Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve all went deep off Sean Burke, and by the fourth it was 4-3. Houston then loaded the bases with two out in the fifth, but Anthony Kay got Altuve to fly out. An inning later Chase Meidroth hit a three-run homer that more or less ended the season in Houston. Jordan Hicks struck out three over two perfect innings, and Erick Fedde closed it with a 1-2-3 ninth.
For an 81-81 Astros team that won the AL West, it’s a long winter of questions. For the White Sox, it’s a trip to Cleveland.
Yankees 2, Red Sox 0
Game 1: Yankees 9, Red Sox 0 · Game 2: Yankees 9, Red Sox 2
Last fall these two went three tight games. This time it wasn’t close for a single inning that mattered. New York outscored Boston 18-2 and outhit them 26-7, the most lopsided result in the five years of the current Wild Card format. The Red Sox’s seven hits tied the record for the fewest in any multi-game series in big-league history.
Game 2 started as a real pitchers’ duel between Max Fried and former Yankee Sonny Gray. Luis García Jr., a deadline pickup making his first postseason start, broke it open with a fourth-inning homer and finished with three hits. Then the sixth inning happened. Boston intentionally walked Ben Rice to get to Cody Bellinger, and Bellinger hit a three-run homer off Garrett Whitlock to make it 8-1. He finished with four RBIs.
The postgame focus in Boston was on manager Chad Tracy pulling Gray after 4 2/3 innings, a call Gray made clear he didn’t agree with. Boston’s bullpen finished the series with a 20.25 ERA, and the Red Sox were also without Roman Anthony, scratched from the roster before Game 2 with a hand injury.
National League
Braves 2, Phillies 1
Game 1: Braves 5, Phillies 3 · Game 2: Phillies 4, Braves 3 (10 inn.) · Game 3: Braves 6, Phillies 2
The only series worth staying up for. Austin Riley set the tone in the opener with a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. The Phillies answered the next night, with Alec Bohm homering and Philadelphia winning in 10 innings to force a deciding game.
Game 3 was over early. Aaron Nola walked Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson in the first, and Michael Harris II, who had hit into two double plays the night before, made him pay with a three-run homer. Ray Kerr, a surprise starter making only the fourth start of his career, gave Atlanta 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Walt Weiss wanted a lefty to see Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper at least once, and it worked. Ozzie Albies added a two-run shot in the fourth and Olson a solo homer in the seventh.
Then came the moment people will remember. Chris Sale, who started Game 1 two days earlier, came out of the bullpen on one day of rest to get the last four outs. He struck out Harper to end the eighth, then struck out Bryan De La Cruz and pinch-hitter Otto Kemp in the ninth. Weiss admitted he woke up that morning not even expecting to talk about using Sale.
It’s Atlanta’s first postseason series win since the 2021 title, and the first time the Braves have ever beaten the Phillies in October. Philadelphia had knocked them out in 1993, 2022 and 2023.
Padres 2, Cubs 0
Game 1: Padres 8, Cubs 0 · Game 2: Padres 4, Cubs 1
The Cubs led the majors in basically every offensive category this year. They scored one run in 18 innings. Michael King carried a no-hitter deep into Game 1 and finished with seven scoreless innings, while Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts homered. Joe Musgrove escaped a bases-loaded jam to close out the biggest shutout win in Padres postseason history.
Game 2 was tighter, but not by much. Bogaerts drove in a run off Kevin Gausman in the second, and 20-year-old Ethan Salas, called up Sept. 1, added a sacrifice fly to become the youngest catcher ever to play in a postseason game. Nico Hoerner got Chicago on the board in the fourth, so manager Craig Stammen went to his bullpen for the final 17 outs. They allowed three baserunners. Pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets put it away with a two-run homer, the Padres’ first pinch-hit postseason homer since 2005.
The top of the Cubs’ order never showed up. Probable NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman went a combined 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts. It’s a full reversal of last year, when Chicago knocked San Diego out at Wrigley.
Up next: the Division Series
All four best-of-five series start Saturday, Oct. 3, and the three teams that swept get two full days to reset their pitching. Atlanta doesn’t, after burning Sale and a Game 3 to get here.
