The 2026 MLB postseason resumed on Saturday with Game 1 of all four Division Series matchups. Since the best-of-five Division Series became a thing in 1995, the team that wins Game 1 has gone on to win the series 73% of the time, and 32% of the time the series ended in a sweep. Winning Game 1 doesn't guarantee a Division Series win, but it is a big advantage.

Here are the final scores and schedule for Saturday's playoff action:

To sum up all the Game 1 action, we're here to declare a winner and loser from each of the four games. You can find those authoritative and inarguable declarations just below.

Winner: Playoff Teo

Teoscar Hernández has 11 homers in 38 career playoff games

Despite the scorching hot weather -- game time temperature was 100 degrees in the second-hottest playoff first pitch ever -- the offenses were pretty quiet in this one. It was a scoreless tie in the middle of the fourth inning. A one-out walk to Freddie Freeman set the table for one of the more prolific playoff home run hitters in recent history, and Teoscar Hernández responded by going deep to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. 

That was the 11th career playoff home run for Hernández, including at least one in each of his last six postseason series. He's been especially productive in the divisional round. He's now 12 for 37 (.324) with four home runs and 12 RBI in 10 career NLDS games. 

As for this season, this game continued a trend of a scorching Hernández at the plate recently. He was faced with the possibility of losing playing time in a platoon situation in late August (manager Dave Roberts even pondered it out loud) and then something inside him woke up. In his last 25 regular-season games, Hernández hit .352/.433/.582 with four doubles, a triple, five home runs, 20 RBI and 15 runs. 

It should be noted that despite a rough season overall, Kyle Tucker got hot down the stretch as well. In his last 22 games, he hit .284/.365/.595 with six homers and 12 RBI. He added a two-run homer for insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 1. -- Matt Snyder

Losers: All the teams that let the Dodgers get Skubal

Dodgers deadline acquisition Tarik Skubal dominated on Saturday

The Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions. Two-time defending AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal landed on the trade block in July when the Tigers threw in the towel. Surely the rest of the league wouldn't let the Tigers trade him to the Dodgers, right? Boy, were we naive to ignore how strongly some teams wanted to hug prospects instead of doing whatever it took to make sure the champs didn't get the best pitcher in baseball (let alone add him to their own rotation).

Skubal went out and made his first Dodgers playoff start in Game 1 on Saturday and did not disappoint. His changeup was filthy to the point that it felt unfair, inducing eight whiffs out of the 15 swings he drew with that offering. His regular ol' 98 mph heater was there, too, along with his three lesser-used breaking pitches. 

He absolutely cruised through five scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. In the sixth, he did get touched up for a solo home run and walked two before relocating his release point and stranding those men on base.

In all, Skubal struck out seven in six innings of very fine work. 

It bears repeating what we mentioned in the days following the Dodgers' acquisition of Skubal: The move wasn't just big in that the Dodgers landed him, it was doubly big in that they also prevented other teams from getting him. Had the Braves, for example, traded for Skubal, the Dodgers could well have been facing him on Saturday. Instead, he was working for them. -- Matt Snyder

Winner: Munetaka Murakami

Murakami overcame a rough Wild Card Series with a game-changing home run on Saturday

There were questions, not unreasonably, about Munetaka Murakami's chances to succeed in the big leagues given his low contact rates and high strikeout rates in Japan. He didn't completely answer those questions this season -- Murakami hit .207 during the regular season and .198 after April -- but the 35 home runs and 130 OPS+ were plenty good enough to make up for the strikeouts.

Murakami had a tough Wild Card Series against the Astros, going 1-for-8 with five strikeouts in the two games, but he had his "welcome to the postseason" moment in Game 1 against the Guardians. He launched a 440-foot two-run home run in the third inning to give the White Sox the only runs they would need on the afternoon. Please enjoy the Japanese call of Murakami's monster homer:

Murakami's homer came immediately after the Guardians wasted a base- loaded opportunity in the bottom of the third. They wasted another bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the fourth inning too. The Guardians had chances to get on the board and really bust the game open, but they didn't do it. Murakami gave the White Sox the big swing they'll need to win this ALDS.

Chicago made it through the Wild Card Series without Murakami contributing much, but they'll need him against Cleveland and throughout the playoffs. Your best players have to be your best players in October, and, in Game 1, Murakami was the White Sox's best player thanks to his go-ahead home run. His game-changing power indeed changed the game. -- Mike Axisa

Loser: Regular-season demons

Turns out what happens from March to September means little in October

White Sox righty Grant Taylor closed out Game 1 of the Wild Card Series with a masterful seven-out, 54-pitch performance against the Astros. It earned him our hypothetical Wild Card Series MVP award. That won't even go down as Taylor's best performance of the postseason though. In Game 1 of the ALDS, he turned in a four-inning save to finish off a 3-0 win over the Guardians.

Taylor struck out six and threw 42 pitches in Game 1, and generated an incredible 12 misses on 23 swings (52%). That is a preposterous whiff rate, especially since Cleveland had the fifth-lowest strikeout rate in baseball during the regular season.

Taylor's four-inning Game 1 save came after the Guardians beat him up pretty good during the regular season. They tagged him for eight runs on nine hits and six walks in only 6 ⅔ innings spanning six appearances. Twice the Guardians walked Taylor off -- Brayan Rocchio had the hit both times -- and once they beat him in extra innings in Chicago. Ouch.

Given that regular-season track record, you couldn't blame the Guardians if they felt confident when Taylor entered Game 1. They've had his number all year. Instead, Taylor shut them down and earned the first four-inning postseason save since former Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. against the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS.

Keep in mind Sunday is an off-day for the two ALDS matchups. Taylor will get to rest after Game 1 and could be right back out there in Game 2 on Monday. -- Mike Axisa

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