The Major League Baseball playoffs began October 2, 2024, with four games in the three-round wild card standoff. 

The Detroit Tigers won over the Houston Astros 3-1 with Tarik Skubal pitching for the Tigers. They scored all three of their runs in the second inning, and managed to stave off the Astros, who only scored a single run in the ninth inning. While Skubal will not pitch in the pair’s second game, it’s still not clear if the Astros will be able to recover. 

In a much closer match, the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 1-0. This not only stung due to being an Orioles home game, but also due their loss to the Royals in the relatively recent 2014 American Championship League. However, the Royals past struggles as a team may haunt them going into game two. 

The New York Mets won against the Milwaukee Brewers eight to four. While the Brewers took an early two-run lead in the first inning, they were unable to stop the Mets, who scored three runs in the second and five in the fifth. This is especially impressive considering that all five runs were done with two outs, meaning that a single wrong step or strike out would have meant the end of the streak. However, there are still two games remaining, and game two Mets’ pitcher Sean Manaea’s playoff record is poor.

The San Diego Padres froze out the Atlanta Braves 4-0. Micheal King pitched a stellar game for the Padres. This was a slightly expected outcome though, given the Braves’ starting pitcher Chris Sale is still out on an injury from mid-September. There is potential for Braves’ substitute Max Fried to claw the series back in game two, but a second loss would not only mean the Braves’ elimination but also the release of Fried as he is a free agent.