Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29

Yankees, White Sox, Braves and Padres Seize Wild Card Game 1, Moving 1 Win From NLDS and ALDS

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29

Yankees, White Sox, Braves and Padres Seize Wild Card Game 1, Moving 1 Win From NLDS and ALDS

Q: Can the Yankees’ depth and Ben Rice’s breakout keep carrying them until Aaron Judge returns, or was Game 1 a one-night surge?

It looks more sustainable than a one-night fluke, even if Ben Rice is unlikely to keep producing at Tuesday’s historic level. The strongest evidence is that Rice’s Game 1 outburst came on top of a much larger body of work. He hit 41 home runs in the regular season, was an All-Star, and according to team reporting, finished the final month with a surge after working through a midseason slump. He has also been hot entering October, not just on Tuesday. That makes him less of a surprise cameo and more of the Yankees’ current middle-of-the-order engine while Aaron Judge remains out with a calf injury. The Yankees’ depth is also real, especially because it extends beyond one bat. Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells give Boone enough credible options to avoid becoming a one-man offense, and Heliot Ramos has helped cover for Judge’s absence. More importantly, New York’s rotation gives that lineup margin for error. Cam Schlittler’s 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Game 1 followed a Cy Young-caliber regular season, and Max Fried and Gerrit Cole are lined up behind him. That said, Game 1 should not be mistaken for a formula in which the Yankees can simply replace Judge’s impact. Rice can carry stretches; Judge changes the shape of an entire series. The safer read is that New York has enough pitching and enough lineup balance to survive until Judge returns, but expecting nightly explosions like Tuesday would be unrealistic.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29

Four teams moved within one win of the Division Series as the Yankees, White Sox, Braves and Padres all opened the best-of-three wild card round with Game 1 victories.
New York and San Diego delivered the most lopsided wins—9-0 over Boston and 8-0 over Chicago—behind Cam Schlittler’s 6 1/3 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and Michael King’s no-hit bid into the seventh.
Ben Rice drove the Yankees with a 4-for-5 night, two homers and six RBIs, while Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts all homered for the Padres; Joe Musgrove also returned for his first MLB outing since 2024.
Chicago beat Houston 6-3 after rookie lefty Hagen Smith opened with three scoreless innings, and Atlanta topped Philadelphia 5-3 on Austin Riley’s go-ahead three-run homer off Jhoan Duran.
Game 2 on Wednesday gives the Braves, White Sox, Yankees and Padres a chance to clinch, while the Phillies, Astros, Red Sox and Cubs face elimination.