MLB playoffs 2025: Dodgers top Reds to close out first day of wild-card play; Red Sox, Cubs and Tigers pick up wins

The 2025 MLB playoffs began Tuesday, with eight teams taking the field to get things started. Here’s the recap of what has happened so far.

On a day of close games, the Dodgers closed out the slate with a Chavez Ravine clobbering of the Reds, though the bullpen made things a little close for comfort.

Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández became only the fifth pair of teammates to post multiple home runs in the same playoff game, with Ohtani’s in particular being of the historically hard-hit variety. Los Angeles was up 1-0 after one batter — Ohtani’s first homer — and up 5-0 after three innings.

The worse news for the Reds is that Blake Snell not only held them down, he did it for a postseason career-high seven innings. The Dodgers bullpen has been a glaring weakness for a good month and they showed it when they immediately melted down in the eighth inning, but not enough to seriously endanger the lead. But imagine if they, or any other team, got more than two innings against L.A.’s compromised unit.

Snell was on pace for a shutout until some trouble in the seventh inning forced him to call it a night, but he still finished with nine strikeouts against only four hits, two earned runs and one walk.

— Jack Baer

New York was cruising behind a sensational postseason Yankees debut from Max Fried, who didn’t allow a run through 6 1/3 innings. But at 102 pitches, manager Aaron Boone had seen enough and entrusted a 1-0 lead to the Yankees’ bullpen. That decision immediately backfired, as Luke Weaver allowed a walk and two hits without getting an out, and Masataka Yoshida delivered a two-run single to take a 2-1 Red Sox lead.

That was all Boston needed. Ace Garrett Crochet cruised through 7 2/3 one-run innings, throwing a career-high 117 pitches and recording 11 strikeouts, and former Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman closed the deal with a very stressful four-out save for a 3-1 Red Sox victory.

Chapman faced the top of the Yankees’ order in the bottom of the ninth. Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger loaded the bases with three straight singles across five pitches. But Chapman struck out Giancarlo Stanton for the first out of the inning and then induced a shallow flyout from Jazz Chisholm that didn’t advance the runners. He struck out Trent Grisham to secure the win in a dramatic Game 1 in the Bronx. — Jason Owens

Through four innings, San Diego’s bats were active, while Padres starter Nick Pivetta was keeping the Cubs’ bats at bay.

That all changed in the fifth. Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly tagged Pivetta for back-to-back solo home runs to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead. And Chicago’s bullpen did the work from there in a 3-1 win.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell pulled starter Matthew Boyd in the fifth inning after just 58 pitches and entrusted the rest of the game to his bullpen. The Chicago relievers delivered, with Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge and Brad Keller combining to throw 4 2/3 no-hit innings to secure the victory and a 1-0 series lead.

The Padres had multiple chances to build on an early 1-0 lead. But they left Xander Bogaerts stranded after he reached third base with no outs in the second. In the fourth, they put runners on the corners with one out and didn’t score a run. A nice play in shallow center field by Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson robbed Ryan O’Hearn of a potential hit and held Manny Machado at third with two outs.

The Padres never threatened again, as Chicago’s bullpen shut them down for the final 4 2/3 innings of the game. — Owens

As the first game of the day proved, when Tarik Skubal is on the mound, the Detroit Tigers don’t need much else. Skubal dazzled Tuesday, striking out 14 in a dominant performance against the Cleveland Guardians.

But the win wasn’t comfortable until the final out. For most of the contest, Skubal and Gavin Williams were locked in a pitchers’ duel. At the end of the sixth inning, the score sat at 1-1, and Skubal and Williams had each notched at least eight strikeouts.

Williams ran out of steam in the seventh, allowing two baserunners before he was pulled. The Tigers then scratched across another run, and that proved to be the difference. Skubal struck out the side in the seventh and managed two outs in the bottom of the eighth before he left the contest.

Although the Guardians threatened in the bottom of the ninth, Tigers closer Will Vest got the job done, preventing Jose Ramirez from scoring from third with no outs and securing a 2-1 Tigers victory. — Chris Cwik

MLB playoff bracket, wild-card schedule and results for Game 1

No. 6 Detroit Tigers 2, No. 3 Cleveland Guardians 1
No. 4 Chicago Cubs 3, No. 5 San Diego Padres 1
No. 5 Boston Red Sox 3, No. 4 New York Yankees 1
No. 6 Cincinnati Reds vs. No. 3 Los Angeles Dodgers, live on ESPN

MLB wild card Game 1 live blog

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MLB playoffs 2025: Dodgers top Reds to close out first day of wild-card play; Red Sox, Cubs and Tigers pick up wins

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