Mark Vientos hit a tiebreaking, two-run single during a five-run outburst in the fifth inning as the indefatigable New York Mets continued their thrilling week by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 8-4 in an NL Wild Card Series opener Tuesday at Milwaukee
The Mets didn’t earn a playoff berth until they rallied late from a three-run deficit to win the opening game of a makeup doubleheader in Atlanta on Monday, one day after the regular season was supposed to end.
Now they’re a win from heading to Philadelphia for an NL Division Series.
“It’s hard to be tired when you’re playing playoff baseball,” Vientos said. “I had a bunch of energy. I know all of us did. We were all excited, and we got the job done.”
Since Major League Baseball went to the current postseason format in 2022 that features four best-of-three Wild Card Series, the Game 1 winner has gone on to advance in each of the eight series. Only one of those eight series even made it to a winner-take-all third game.
Milwaukee has lost 10 of its last 11 playoff games, a stretch that began with its Game 7 home defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.
Jesse Winker and pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez each drove in two runs for the Mets. Winker, who batted .199 with a .567 OPS for the Brewers last year before bouncing back this season, drew a chorus of boos each time he batted and appeared to exchange words with Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames after hitting a two-run triple in the second.
TIGERS 3, ASTROS 1
Tarik Skubal, a Seattle U. alum, kept up his stellar season with a sensational playoff debut and Detroit got to Framber Valdez early in a win at Houston in their AL Wild Card Series opener.
Skubal said this was the most nervous he’s been since his big league debut in 2020, but that he found a way to center himself.
“Breathe, execute pitches,” he said. “That’s all you can do when you’re out there. Once I got off the mound and fired my first pitch, I think all that stuff kind of goes away.”
The Tigers, swept in the American League Division Series in their last trip to the playoffs in 2014, got their first postseason win since Game 4 the 2013 AL Championship Series.
Down 3-0 entering the ninth, Houston scored on Yanier Diaz’s RBI single and had the bases loaded when Jason Heyward hit a game-ending lineout against Beau Brieske.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Wednesday in Houston.
Skubal, the AL pitching Triple Crown winner, allowed just four singles and walked one in six innings. About the only hard hit by the Astros off him was one that hit him — the left was struck on his right wrist by Diaz’s second-inning comebacker.
ROYALS 1, ORIOLES 0
Bobby Witt Jr. made the most of his much-anticipated playoff debut, driving in the only run Tuesday to back Cole Ragans’ six sharp innings and help Kansas City return from a nine-year postseason absence with a victory at Baltimore in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series.
“I’m like, ‘This is where you want to be,’” Witt said. “This is the spot you want to be in. And this is what makes you a baseball player. This is what you dream of.”
Witt, the 24-year-old shortstop who led the majors with 211 hits and a .332 batting average this season, singled to left field off a 95 mph, first-pitch cutter from 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes with two outs in the sixth. Maikel Garcia came around to score after drawing a walk, stealing second — Burnes allowed runners to swipe a major league-high 41 bases this season — and moving to third on a groundout.
They couldn’t keep adding to their lead, but that didn’t matter, thanks to Ragans, who was every bit as good, if not better, than Burnes before leaving after 80 pitches because of cramping in his left calf, plus a bullpen that was KC’s weakness during the regular season but was more than fine Tuesday.
Sam Long, Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg, who earned the save, shut down the Orioles the rest of the way.
PADRES 4, BRAVES 0
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a towering two-run homer on his first playoff swing in four years and Michael King struck out 12 in his first postseason start as San Diego beat rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and Atlanta in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series.
Tatis’ 415-foot shot landed in the second deck in left field at Petco Park and sent the towel-waving, sellout crowd of 47,647 into a frenzy. The 25-year-old star, who missed just more than 2 1/2 months this season with a stress reaction in his right thighbone, watched the ball fly away, tossed his bat aside, gestured toward the home dugout and did his signature stutter-step around third base.
Game 2 in the best-of-three playoff is Wednesday night. If the Padres win the series, they’ll face their biggest rivals, the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, in the National League Division Series. The Padres eliminated the 111-win Dodgers in a 2022 NLDS.
King was brilliant in becoming the first pitcher to have 12 strikeouts with no runs and no walks allowed in his first career postseason start. He joined Kevin Brown and Sterling Hitchcock as the only Padres pitchers with double-digit strikeout games in playoff history. He allowed five hits and walked none.
