LOS ANGELES — Tarik Skubal dominated over six innings, three home runs powered the offense and the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the National League Division Series with a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

Read more HMSA revamping Medicare Advantage plans

Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy all went deep as the Dodgers started their quest to become the first National League club to win three consecutive championships and the first major league team to do it since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000.

Skubal (1-0) gave up one run on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in his first postseason start for Los Angeles after arriving in a trade-deadline deal from the Detroit Tigers.

Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies hit home runs for the Braves, who entered off a wild-card round victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and are trying to advance past the NLDS for the first time since winning the World Series in 2021.

Left-hander Dylan Dodd opened the game with three scoreless innings for Atlanta before giving way to Victor Mederos (0-1), who gave up Hernandez’s home run and recorded just one out in the fourth inning.

On a blisteringly hot day, with the temperature at 100 degrees to open the game, Skubal allowed only one hit through his first five scoreless innings on the mound.

Hernandez backed Skubal with a two-run home run in the fourth inning for a 2-0 advantage.

“I really don’t care if I strike out in big situations. I always want to be the guy to be in those moments,” Hernandez said. “I worked really hard for it, and I think the bigger the moment, the more focused I get. Just trying to put together a good at-bat for the team. Obviously if I get a good pitch to hit, I just try to put a good swing on it.”

The Braves finally got to Skubal in the sixth when Murphy hit a home run to center to bring Atlanta to within a run.

The Dodgers increased their advantage in the bottom of the sixth against AJ Smith-Shawver when Tucker slugged a two-run home run and Muncy followed two batters later with a solo shot down the line in right field for a 5-1 advantage.

Tucker’s contribution on offense came after a disappointing regular season when his .715 OPS was lower than all but one Dodgers player who played in at least 90 games. Tucker is in the first season of a four-year, $240 million contract.

Albies got the Braves within two runs in the ninth with a two-run home run off Tanner Scott. Evan Phillips entered the game with two outs and walked Mauricio Dubon to bring the tying run to the plate. But he earned the save by retiring Austin Riley on a groundout to short.

“I thought we put up some competitive at-bats. Really nice swing from Murphy right there and then and then not giving up,” Riley said. “With Ozzie, the two-run homer, that was encouraging. Just ran out of time today.”

Drew Rasmussen dominates, Rays
stifle Yankees to win ALDS opener

Drew Rasmussen did not allow a hit through 7 2/3 scoreless innings and Jonathan Aranda belted a solo homer, lifting the Tampa Bay Rays to a 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“In all honesty, my heartbeat was about a thousand beats per minute, so I just let (catcher) Liam (Hicks) call the game and just try to execute the pitches he called,” Rasmussen said on the TNT Sports broadcast.

Austin Wells broke up Rasmussen’s no-hit bid in the eighth with a blast down the right field line. However, he was thrown out in his attempt to stretch a double into a triple to end the inning.

“Obviously not a good decision there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Not sure if he saw something on his way between first and second that caused him to go there, but obviously a mistake there.”

Wells said after he passed second base, he saw third base coach Luis Rojas with his hands up for him to stop there, but he already was committed to run to third.

“(They) made two good throws and it got me,” Wells said. “Thought it kicked off more than it did, (right fielder Victor Mesa Jr.) made a good play on the ball. Two outs there, trying to make something happen, be aggressive with not much going on in the game. Obviously, love to safe there or standing on second base.”

That was the lone hit allowed by Rasmussen (1-0), who struck out 10 batters in eight innings.

Right-hander Bryan Baker struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure his first career postseason save.

Aranda belted a solo homer in the third inning as one of the five hits for the Rays, who secured a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Game 2 is Monday in St. Petersburg.

Aranda deposited a 2-2 changeup from right-hander Gerrit Cole (0-1) over the wall in right-center field to account for the scoring in the third inning.

The Yankees’ bats went silent after outscoring the rival Boston Red Sox by an 18-2 margin and out-hitting them 26-7 during a two-game sweep in the wild-card round.

Captain Aaron Judge was left off New York’s roster for the ALDS. Judge, 34, has not played since Sept. 16 due to a strained right calf. The three-time AL MVP landed on the injured list three days later and missed the Yankees’ wild-card sweep earlier this week.

Read more Seahawks outlast winless Chargers in penalty-laden affair

Rasmussen also dominated the Yankees in three of four meetings during the regular season, including a one-run, one-hit, 11-strikeout performance over 6 2/3 innings of a 6-1 romp on Sept. 22. The Rays clinched the AL East title with that victory.

“At that point, we had the opportunity to win the division. Obviously, this one is a postseason game. Both meaningful, both impactful,” Rasmussen told reporters about his last two outings against New York.

Rasmussen allowed only a pair of walks, one each in the second and third innings, and retired the final 16 batters he faced on Saturday.

“It seemed like he went and doubled down tonight,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said, noting Rasmussen’s previous start against the Yankees. “Made it easy to sit back and just take some decisions out of our hands.”

Rasmussen also showed his defensive chops by getting off the mound to field a bunt and throw out Ryan McMahon to begin the sixth inning. He finished that inning unscathed, marking the deepest no-hit bid in franchise history and the deepest into a postseason game the Yankees have ever been no-hit.

Brewers find
home-run power, rally past Padres
in NLDS opener

MILWAUKEE — William Contreras homered with two outs in the seventh inning for the go-ahead run to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 comeback victory over the San Diego Padres in a battle of the bullpens on Saturday night in the opener of their National League Division Series.

Reliever Adrian Morejon (0-1) opened the seventh and retired the first two hitters before Contreras sent a 3-2 pitch 406 feet to center.

Jackson Chourio had a game-tying two-run homer in the third off Padres starter Robbie Ray to account for Milwaukee’s other runs. The Brewers were last in the NL with 154 homers and next-to-last in the majors, only ahead of Toronto’s 152.

Milwaukee earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason after winning a franchise-record 103 games, while San Diego won 17 of its final 20 regular-season games before sweeping the Chicago Cubs this week in their wild-card series.

Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who led the majors with a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts, needed 88 pitches to get through four innings, allowing two runs on four hits with six strikeouts.

Left-hander Ray allowed two runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Chourio brought the Brewers even at 2-all with his fifth career postseason homer, the most in franchise history. Garrett Mitchell opened with a broken-bat single to short and advanced to second base on a groundout. Chourio then lined the first pitch 420 feet to left-center with an exit velocity of 113.3 mph.

The Padres loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but left-hander DL Hall (1-0) relieved and got Jackson Merrill to fly out to left.

Down 3-2, San Diego had runners on the corners with two outs in the eighth, but closer Trevor Megill came on and fanned Fernando Tatis Jr. Megill, who had a team-high 30 saves in 33 opportunities, finished with a scoreless ninth for the save.

After forcing Misiorowski to throw 25 pitches in a scoreless first inning, the Padres scored two runs in a 33-pitch second inning

White Sox gain
with Murakami HR, shutout pitching

CLEVELAND — Munetaka Murakami belted a two-run homer off All-Star Parker Messick and five pitchers combined on a three-hitter as the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday afternoon.

Murakami, a 26-year-old rookie from Japan, hammered a 440-foot shot to right field off Messick in the fourth inning. His first postseason homer — and 36th overall this year — plated Miguel Vargas to put the White Sox up 2-0.

“I was ready, this was the moment I was preparing for the entire season,” said Murakami, who yelled toward the visiting dugout as his homer cleared the fence. “I can’t explain what I said in words (to the team), but it was a little bit dirty.”

Chicago extended its lead to 3-0 in the seventh when Colson Montgomery doubled just inside third base against Erik Sabrowski, bringing home Kyle Teel. The White Sox have won three consecutive games to begin their postseason.

Bryan Hudson retired the only batter he faced in the third inning for the victory, and closer Grant Taylor tossed the final four innings for the save. Taylor struck out six and allowed a pair of hits.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Monday afternoon in Cleveland. The White Sox have won eight of the 14 contests between the teams this season, splitting eight games at Progressive Field, the home of the AL Central champion Guardians.

“The first game in the series is very important. Now, we’ll get the one day (of) rest and focus on winning again,” Murakami said.

“I can’t speak English too much, so the one thing I know is ‘Let’s go,’ and that’s it,” he added.

Messick, a rookie making his postseason debut, struck out six over 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks. The left-hander threw 87 pitches before being replaced by Daniel Espino.

Cleveland was held hitless until the fourth, when Travis Bazzana doubled with two outs against Anthony Kay.

Read more Kauhale builders admit ‘mistakes were made’ as audit looms