MLB Wild Card Roundup: Ben Rice's Slam, Michael King's No-Hit Bid Highlight Game 1s

The first day of the 2026 MLB playoffs opened with a late Braves rally and a White Sox win, followed by a lightning-fast start in San Diego and a Cy Young favorite doing Cam Schlittler things in the Bronx.

Four Wild Card Series openers, four Game 1 winners. Austin Riley hit the postseason's first home run, a go-ahead three-run shot in the eighth inning that lifted the Braves past the Phillies 5-3. The White Sox, who followed consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth, beat the Astros 6-3 for their first postseason win since 2021. 

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado homered in the first inning as the Padres beat the Cubs 8-0. And Ben Rice hit a grand slam and drove in six runs while Schlittler struck out 10 in a 9-0 Yankees rout of the Red Sox.

Here is everything you might have missed on Day 1 of the MLB Playoffs:

Biggest Moments

The first home run of the 2026 postseason was a big one. 

Austin Riley launched a two-out, three-run shot over the wall in right-center field for a three-run shot off Phillies closer Jhoan Duran in the eighth inning, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 Atlanta lead and, ultimately, the win in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series. 

The homer also answered a Philadelphia rally in the seventh, when J.T. Realmuto's two-run triple erased a 2-1 Braves lead after Chris Sale, who struck out nine, left the game.

It gave the Atlanta Braves a 5-3 victory in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series. The ball left the bat at 104.6 mph and traveled a projected 385 feet. It was an especially sweet swing for Riley, who hit only .219 with 19 homers during the regular season.

Fernando Tatis Jr. jumped on the very first pitch from Cubs starter Matthew Boyd and sent it 405 feet to center field, the first leadoff homer in Padres postseason history. 

Two batters later, Manny Machado pulled a Boyd changeup 391 feet to left for a 2-0 lead. It was the first time San Diego hit two homers in the first inning of a postseason game. 

Tatis walked in the fourth and Machado drove him in with a double off the center-field wall, and Xander Bogaerts followed with a homer into the second deck in the fourth.

Best Hitter

Ben Rice tormented the Red Sox from start to finish. 

He went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and six RBIs in a 9-0 Yankees win. He doubled in the first inning, then crushed a solo homer off Erik Miller in the fifth for a 2-0 lead. He singled in a run in the seventh, when the Yankees broke the game open, and then put it away with a grand slam in the eighth. 

Rice hit 41 homers in the regular season. With Aaron Judge out with a calf injury and off the Wild Card roster, the Yankees needed him to carry the offense, and he did. Rice grew up in Massachusetts and went to college at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire, before the Yankees drafted him.

Best Pitcher

Michael King carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning against MLB's highest-scoring offense. The Padres right-hander was hitless through six innings and 83 pitches.

Chicago finally got its first hit in the seventh, when Nico Hoerner's hard grounder down the third-base line got past Manny Machado. King finished the inning with a line of seven innings, one hit, no earned runs, three walks and eight strikeouts.

He had not gone more than seven innings all season, so a complete-game no-hitter was always a long shot. It was still a statement against a Cubs team that went 5-1 against San Diego in the regular season. The Padres' offense gave him plenty of room, building a 7-0 lead by the fifth inning. 

What's Next

For the Phillies, Astros, Red Sox and Cubs, their season is on the brink, as one more loss on Wednesday means they are out. For the Braves, White Sox, Yankees and Padres, another victory clinches a spot in the division series, with those matchups beginning on Saturday. 

A win by any of the trailing teams would force a decisive Game 3 on Thursday. 

Here's how it could shake out on Wednesday:

• If the Braves beat the Phillies, Atlanta will take on the NL West-champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
• If the White Sox beat the Astros, Chicago will take on the AL Central-champion Guardians.
• If the Yankees beat the Red Sox, New York will take on the AL East-champion Tampa Bay Rays.
• If the Padres beat the Cubs, San Diego will take on the NL Central-champion Milwaukee Brewers.

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