MLB Playoff Roundup: Guards cruise, Mets and Dodgers scrap for Game 1 leads

The Yankees had a dramatic opening to their postseason, going through a record five lead changes before finally holding down a 6-5 victory over the Royals. A lot of things went against them, from Gerrit Cole struggling to put away batters, miscues on the basepaths, and a big 0-for from the captain Aaron Judge, but just enough went right (and some luck went their way via a crucial video replay) to take Game 1 and the early advantage.

While they were getting started, the rest of the Division Series was either unfolding or getting ready to kick off around them. Let's see what happened with the rest of the bracket:

AL Divisional Series Game 1Cleveland GuardiansDetroit Tigers (Cleveland leads, 1-0)

Starting with the early game, this was also the simplest one to follow along with. The Guardians blitzed the Tigers to the tune of a five-run first inning, with all the scoring happening before starter Tyler Holton could even record an out. He was lifted midway through the hit parade for Reese Olson, who stuck in for five innings but also allowed the last two of Holton's four runs to score alongside one of his own thanks to a Lane Thomas three-run shot.

From there, the gritty Tigers unfortunately had no bite on the day. They spread out four hits against Tanner Bibee over 4.2 innings, and then the Cleveland bullpen entered the fray and absolutely shut the door on them — four pitchers tossed a combined 4.1 innings and allowed just a single walk and no hits against seven strikeouts. Cleveland added two more in the sixth on a David Fry two-run double, but it was hardly needed as the Guardians coasted to an easy Game 1 win.

NL Divisional Series Game 1New York MetsPhiladelphia Phillies (New York leads, 1-0)

Now let's get a little crazier. The Mets have been on a rollercoaster the past couple of weeks, securing their postseason berth on a doubleheader the day after the regular season ended for 28 other teams and then coming back in dramatic fashion to eliminate the NL Central champion Brewers . Their next opponent is no slouch in the NL East champion Phillies, whom they're quite familiar with, and it once again came down to an explosive late-inning rally.

For the majority of this game, this was the Zack Wheeler revenge game. The former Met was dominating his former club for seven innings, shutting them out on one hit and four walks while racking up nine strikeouts and an unbelievable 30 swing and misses on the day. He went deep into the well to do so, tossing 111 pitches, but he put his team in a fantastic position to win by being the definition of an ace against the team that simply didn't see him that way.

However, his offense was having a difficult time giving him a cushion. Kyle Schwarber greeted Kodai Senga, who was making his first start since July in another miracle moment for the Mets, with a leadoff homer to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. From there, however, the offense stalled against Senga and a parade of Mets pitchers, beginning with starter David Peterson on in relief for three innings beginning in the third. He handed the ball off to Reed Garrett for another two innings of peace and quiet on the basepaths, meaning the Phillies had just the slimmest of leads when Wheeler finally had to exit before the eighth inning began.

Introducing that new look must've been exactly what the Mets needed to get going, because they flipped the script completely. Francisco Alvarez led off the inning against Jeff Hoffman and flipped a single right back up the middle to start the rally, and after a Francisco Lindor walk Mark Vientos slapped a single into left to score the tying run.

Now in desperation mode, Philadelphia made another pitching change, going to Matt Strahm, but the floodgates were open. Brandon Nimmo was up next and he kept it going with another single to score Lindor and take the lead, and a Pete Alonso sacrifice fly recorded the first out of the frame at the cost of yet another run. Jose Iglesias kept the fire lit with another single prompting yet another pitching change, this time bringing in Orion Kerkering, and J.D. Martinez and Starling Marte added on with an RBI single and sac fly respectively. Just like that, a 1-0 Phillies lead had become a 5-1 Mets lead, and Citizens Bank Park was stunned silent.

The Phillies threatened but couldn't score in the bottom half in response, and the Mets added on in the ninth thanks to Harrison Bader singling and stealing second before another Nimmo single drove him in. Philadelphia finally got the engine running again in the ninth, scoring one on a Kody Clemens double, but it was far too little, far too late to come back. Ryne Stanek ended it with a Schwarber fly ball to right, and the Mets officially stormed back to take home field advantage over.

NL Divisional Series Game 1Los Angeles DodgersSan Diego Padres (Los Angeles leads, 1-0)

While the Yankees were in the middle of their lead-flipping saga, a battle was unfolding over on the West Coast as well. The Padres and Dodgers complete our quartet of division battles, and are the third intra-divisional matchup featured here. These two teams aren't just familiar regular season foes, but they've clashed recently in October with the Dodgers winning in 2020 before the Padres turned things around on them in 2022.

The Padres might be facing a tougher task than they were back then, but they came out swinging in Game 1. The first two Padres got on base against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and then Jurickson Profar knocked one of them in on a ground out to give San Diego the lead. Then Manny Machado quieted the crowd with a massive two-run home run to put the Padres up 3-0 before the Dodgers even had a chance to bat.

However, it was short-lived. In the second inning Shohei Ohtani stepped up and matched Machado's blast with a three-run homer of his own, bringing the crowd fully back into it.

The Padres had an immediate answer of their own, going back to the well in the third inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a double, and after two outs were quickly recorded Jackson Merrill walked to keep the inning alive. Xander Bogaerts took advantage, punishing a hanging breaking ball into left field for a two-run double and another San Diego lead.

An inning later, the Dodgers were back at it. A trio of singles loaded the bases with Adrian Morejon summoned to relieve Dylan Cease in the fourth, and he quickly let loose a wild pitch to score one run. Mookie Betts was intentionally walked to reload the bases, and the Padres managed to barely get a ground ball forceout at home for the second out of the inning. Jeremiah Estrada was next up out of the 'pen facing Teoscar Hernández, but he lost the battle and gave up a two-run single to center that bounced off the glove of Merrill.

The Dodgers were up now, and San Diego didn't have another comeback ready. After Yamamoto left following the third inning, the Dodger bullpen pitched a shutout the rest of the way, with five pitchers combining to cover the remaining six innings. In the fifth, they added an insurance run on a double-play ball that otherwise killed their chance at a crooked number in the frame, but it was unnecessary to get any more — Blake Treinen closed the door with a five-out save to end it and put LA up one.