After three days of exciting wild-card action, including three elimination Game 3s, the MLB Division Series began Saturday, with four matchups on the day.

First, the No. 1 seed Brewers bombarded the Cubs with a hot start in a 9-3 victory. Now, it’s on to the top-AL-seeded Blue Jays hosting the Yankees, who knocked off the Red Sox on Thursday behind a stellar performance from rookie Cam Schlittler.

Advertisement

The 2024 World Series champion Dodgers were the only team to sweep (the Reds) in the wild-card round, and they’ll take on the Phillies in the penultimate game of the day. Lastly, the AL West champion Mariners host the Tigers, who vanquished the Guardians in their wild-card series to salvage an epic end-of-season collapse.

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

Brewers smack Cubs 9-3 behind hot start

The No. 1 seed in the National League sure looked like it Saturday, with the Milwaukee Brewers crushing the Chicago Cubs 9-3 behind a red-hot first and second inning.

Although Cubs first baseman Michael Busch led off the game with a solo homer, it didn’t take long for the Brewers to build an insurmountable lead. They raced to a 6-1 score after the first inning, thanks to five RBI doubles and singles, and expanded that lead to 9-1 in the second.

Advertisement

Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner added solo home runs of their own in the sixth and eighth innings, but it was far too little, too late for the Cubs to undo the damage of Milwaukee’s opening two frames. It didn’t help Chicago that Brewers starter Freddy Peralta had a stellar game in his own right, with nine strikeouts and just four hits allowed in 5 2/3 innings.

Milwaukee finished the game with a whopping 13 hits and eight RBI. Three of those came off the bat of left fielder Jackson Chourio, who was pulled from the game after the second inning due to hamstring tightness. Game 2 for Chicago and Milwaukee begins at 9:08 p.m. ET Monday.

ALDS Game 1: Yankees at Blue Jays, live on FS1
NLDS Game 1: Dodgers at Phillies, 6:38 p.m. ET, TBS
ALDS Game 1: Tigers at Mariners, 8:38 p.m. ET, FS1

MLB divisional round live blog

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more from Day 1 of the division series: