It’s Super Saturday in the 2023 MLB playoffs.
After four wild-card sweeps on Wednesday, all eight remaining teams are in action Saturday, starting with Game 1 of the American League Division Series. The visiting Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles to start the day, followed by the Houston Astros beating the Minnesota Twins at Minute Maid Park. In the openers of the two National League Division Series, the Philadelphia Phillies downed the Atlanta Braves, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks facing the Los Angeles Dodgers (9:20 p.m. ET, TBS).
We’ll have you covered as the best-of-five series begin with matchups, live updates and analysis throughout the day, followed by our takeaways after the final pitch of each game.
Key links: Everything you need to know | Full postseason schedule | Picks
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Live updates | Takeaways | Matchups
Live updates
Takeaways
Philadelphia Phillies 3, Atlanta Braves 0: With neither Zack Wheeler nor Aaron Nola available, the Phillies leaned on Johnny Wholestaff to secure a win, Voltron-ing Ranger Suarez’s 3.2 innings with a revolving door of relievers into an ace-level performance: 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts. All this against the best offense in years, if not decades, limiting the Braves to zero runs.
Spencer Strider was very good for the Braves, but Bryce Harper delivered a knockout blow, going deep off of a Strider backfoot slider in the sixth to make it 2-0. Controversy erupted in the eighth inning as Sean Murphy was called for a catcher’s interference that led to a run and was upheld on replay, making it 3-0. Dozens of beverages landed in the outfield from irate Braves fans.
The narrative has now shifted from if the favored Braves will deliver on their regular season domination in the postseason to if the Dave Dombrowski/Rob Thomson/Harper/Wheeler-led Phillies simply have more postseason mojo than the Braves. – Kiley McDaniel
Houston Astros 6, Minnesota Twins 4: The last time the Houston Astros lost an American League Division Series home game was to Kansas City on Oct. 12, 2015. Since then, they have won a dozen consecutive games, including their 6-4 victory Saturday afternoon to kick off their division series showdown against a game Minnesota Twins team.
Perhaps this does not come as a surprise, seeing as the Astros are seeking their seventh consecutive AL Championship Series berth, but even the best of teams stumble at home now and again. Not the Astros. Two wins in 2017, two in 2018, three in 2019, two in 2021, two in 2022 and the latest Saturday, when Justin Verlander threw six shutout innings, Jose Altuve led off the game with a home run and Yordan Alvarez added a pair of homers. The Astros are a nightmare for opponents because of those three and a cast of other characters, including the Minute Maid Park crowd that remains among the most raucous in the game all these years later. — Jeff Passan
One thing to know for Game 2: The last time we saw Yordan Alvarez in the postseason, he was taking a 99-mph fastball from Jose Alvarado out to dead center field, 450 feet into the night, to put the Houston Astros ahead in the World Series-clinching Game 6. He’s back this year, as good as ever, with a pair of home runs in Game 1 of the division series against Minnesota, and if there are any questions about the Astros’ ability to make another deep run this October, they begin and end with Alvarez. He’s so good that he quietly puts together absurd months like September, when he batted .294/.441/.620 with eight home runs, 20 RBIs and more walks (19) than strikeouts (18). The ability to single-handedly carry a team is a rarity in baseball. Alvarez is capable of it, and while he struggled in 25 plate appearances during the Twins in the regular season, his propensity to go on series-defining heaters has Minnesota wary of what lies ahead.
Texas Rangers 3, Baltimore Orioles 2: Game 1 between the Rangers and Orioles featured some excellent defense, some intriguing bullpen decisions, a pumped-up Orioles crowd and, most of all, two Texas rookies who stole the headlines. Evan Carter continued his rise to stardom with an RBI double and two more walks, while Josh Jung blasted a home run to center field. Then the Rangers’ bullpen held on for a one-run victory.
The bullpen was the biggest question for both teams heading into the series, and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy asked his to get 16 outs. Texas relievers gave up just one run and faced a couple of tense moments — like when Aroldis Chapman walked the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth but escaped with a double play (Jung made a nice play at third base to start it) and a strikeout. Jose Leclerc gave up a leadoff single in the ninth to Gunnar Henderson, but Henderson got caught stealing to quickly stifle a looming rally.
Indeed, the much-maligned Texas bullpen seemed to pick up some of that magic Bochy always had in October when he managed the Giants to three World Series with his bullpen always stepping up big. One game is hardly a definitive answer, but the ‘pen has delivered in three playoff games so far. If that continues, the Rangers can go a long way. — David Schoenfield
One thing to know for Game 2: Game 1 turned into a matchup of bullpens, and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy certainly got the better of Orioles manager Brandon Hyde — not that Hyde did anything wrong, but the Orioles platoon at a couple of spots in the lineup and Bochy pretty much got the matchups he wanted.
Game 2 will be a little more conventional with Jordan Montgomery starting, but that leaves the Orioles in the same position as Game 1: Henderson slides down in the order since he’s worse against southpaws, and Ryan O’Hearn starts the game on the bench. Given the roll Montgomery has been on — two runs over his past 34 innings, including seven scoreless against the Rays in the wild-card series — the Orioles’ best chance might be to once again just keep it close and hope to beat the Texas bullpen late in the game. And not to get caught stealing.
Matchups
All times Eastern
Arizona Diamondbacks (Merrill Kelly: 12-8, 3.29) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw: 13-5, 2.46), 9:20 p.m. on TBS
2023 regular-season head-to-head record: Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 5
Lineups:
Diamondbacks
Ketel Marte (S) 2B
Corbin Carroll (L) RF
Tommy Pham (R) DH
Christian Walker (R) 1B
Gabriel Moreno (R) C
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) LF
Alek Thomas (L) CF
Evan Longoria (R) 3B
Geraldo Perdomo (S) SS
Dodgers
Mookie Betts (R) 2B
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Will Smith (R) C
Max Muncy (L) 3B
J.D. Martinez (R) DH
Jason Heyward (L) RF
David Peralta (L) LF
James Outman (L) CF
Miguel Rojas (R) SS