Blue Jays and Brewers sweep at start of Major League Baseball divisional series
The Dodgers and Tigers were the other winners of the day.
The Blue Jays celebrate after defeating the Yankees.
(AFP) The Toronto Blue Jays gave the New York Yankees a 10x1 thrashing and the Milwaukee Brewers followed suit with a 9x3 win over the Chicago Cubs, in Saturday's start of the Major League Baseball divisional series.
The star for the Canadians was Mexico's Alejandro Kirk, who hit a pair of homers to left field in the second and eighth innings. Dominican Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finished the day with three hits and two RBIs.
For the Yankees, Aaron Judge connected for two hits, while Giancarlo Stanton went hitless in four innings. Kevin Gausman (1-0) earned his first win of the postseason, while Dominican Luis Gil (0-1) suffered his first loss by allowing two runs in 2.2 innings.
The second game of this best-of-five Divisional Series will be played again on Sunday at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Cubs fall to Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Brewers won 9x3 over the Chicago Cubs in a day marked by the solidity of Dominican Freddy Peralta from the mound and the injury to Venezuelan Jackson Chourio.
Milwaukee leads 1-0 a Divisional Series in which they start as favorites by earning the best record in the majors during the regular season.
Chourio, 21, led a Brewers offensive explosion that led to eight runs in the first two innings, however a muscle injury forced him out of the game in the second inning. The three hits and three RBIs are the outfielder's best single-game record in his postseason career.
Peralta, whose nine strikeouts tied the Brewers' postseason record, left the game in the top of the sixth inning allowing four hits and two runs. The native of Moca, Dominican Republic, received a standing ovation from the 42,678 fans at American Family Field (Milwaukee).
For the Cubs, Ian Happ, who hit his first postseason home run since September 30, 2020, stood out.
The final line leaves Freddy Peralta (1-0) with the win, his first in postseason, while Matthew Boyd (0-1) suffers the loss. The second game between Brewers and Cubs will be played on Monday at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Dodgers' hard-fought win
The Los Angeles Dodgers rallied from three runs down to win 5x3 over the Philadelphia Phillies in Shohei Ohtani's debut from the mound in the Major League Baseball Playoffs.
Ohtani, who has 100 games as a pitcher in The Majors, made his postseason debut as a starter.
The 31-year-old Japanese pitched six complete innings in which he allowed three runs, earning his first victory.
J.T. Realmuto and Harrison Bader gave the Phillies the early lead, Puerto Rican Enrique Hernandez led the comeback for the Dodgers who scored five runs between the sixth and seventh innings to take the series lead.
With the bat, Ohtani went hitless with one base on balls in five at-bats.
Detroit wins in extra innings
In the day's finale, a single by Zach McKinstry in the eleventh inning clinched the game 3x2 in favor of the Detroit Tigers over the Seattle Mariners.
Venezuelan Keider Montero was in charge of closing the door by allowing one hit but recording the last three outs that sealed the victory for today's visitors at T-Mobile Park (Seattle).
The final line leaves Will Vest (1-0) with the victory, Dominican Carlos Vargas (0-1) suffers the loss while the aforementioned Montero (1) gets the save.
The second game of the series will also be played in Washington before heading to Comerica Park (Detroit) for what could be the third and decisive game.
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