The 2026 MLB postseason opened Tuesday with four Wild Card Series Game 1s, and in a format this short, the first night mattered plenty. By the end of the action, Atlanta had a late hero, Chicago had control, and Houston had a mess on its hands.
Austin Riley delivered the swing of the night for the Braves. Atlanta trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth and had two on with two outs when Riley came up against Jhoan Duran, who was working his second inning.
J.T. Realmuto set up outside for a fastball, Duran brought it at 99.9 mph, and missed his spot badly by leaving it in the middle.
Riley crushed it.
The ball came off his bat at 104.6 mph and went 385 feet to right center. Before that at-bat, Atlanta’s win probability sat at 28.5%.
After the homer landed, it jumped to 92.9%, and the Braves finished the job. For Riley, it was another huge October moment against Philadelphia.
He has now homered in three of his last four postseason games against the Phillies, and this was his sixth homer in 37 career postseason games.
If Riley was the night’s winner, Trea Turner wore the loss for Philadelphia. He finished 0 for 3, reached once on a hit by pitch, and also got picked off by Chris Sale in a game where Phillies baserunners were already scarce. It was just the second successful pickoff by Sale all season.
Turner’s defense became a major part of the eighth-inning unraveling. With two outs, Michael Harris II sent a slow ground ball that carried an expected batting average of .220.
Turner had a chance to end the inning, but instead threw the ball badly enough that it nearly sailed into the dugout. Ozzie Albies was hit after that, and Riley followed with the game-changing homer.
A cleaner play at shortstop and the inning might have ended before it ever reached Riley.
Chicago’s Game 1 was a different kind of statement. The White Sox walked into Daikin Park, grabbed the crowd by the throat early, and never let go. They scored once in the first inning and twice in the second, then kept stacking good at-bats until every player in the starting lineup had reached base at least once by the top of the fifth.
The headline, though, belonged to Pope Leo XIV. Game 1 wrapped up around 2:25 a.m.
Vatican time, so he may not have seen the final score until the morning paper, but he’ll like the result. Before the postseason, Pope Leo sent the White Sox a letter saying, "I willingly invoke the Almighty's abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones."
The White Sox are 1-0 in the best-of-three series, and they appear to be getting a little extra help.
Born Robert Prevost, Pope Leo was raised on Chicago’s South Side and has long been a White Sox fan. He was even spotted in the crowd during the television broadcast of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. The White Sox have more than ordinary support behind them this October.
On the field, they backed it up too. Chicago out-bullpen-gamed the Astros and got contributions throughout the lineup, with five starting position players reaching base multiple times and four driving in a run. The White Sox had to grind to get here over the last few weeks of the regular season, but Game 1 showed they can play once they arrived.
Houston’s night was ugly from the start, and the bullpen game the Astros were forced into never had much chance to work. They didn’t have a starter available, with Hunter Brown throwing 100 pitches on Friday, Hayden Wesneski 82 on Saturday, Peter Lambert 41 on Sunday after throwing 62 on Thursday, and Cristian Javier on the injured list. That left Houston to piece things together.
It went poorly. The Astros used eight relievers, four of whom were charged with a run, and four of whom threw at least 22 pitches.
Beyond the loss itself, the way those arms were deployed could affect availability and effectiveness for Game 2 on Wednesday. Nobody wanted a bullpen game in Game 1, and the one Houston had was a drag.
The bigger picture for the Astros isn’t pretty either. They won baseball’s weakest division with an 81-81 record, and Game 1 was another reminder that too many teams make the tournament.
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Chicagos path is made trickier by the fact that both staffs arrive with questions, but the Astros have the kind of lineup depth that can make those issues easier to survive in October. Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez bring postseason experience that could tilt a short series, which leaves the White Sox needing their own answer to one glaring Astros advantage if they want the upset to feel realistic. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Wild Card Roster Hints At A Bold Astros Plan
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Hagen Smith is set to open Game 1 in what is expected to be a bullpen game, which already gives the opener a different feel than a standard postseason start. Anthony Kay is also on the roster after recent pitching work, a detail that suggests the White Sox may be keeping another option available on short rest as they try to piece together outs against Houston. [Read more 🡒]