White Sox Shut Out Guardians, Dodgers Top Braves in Division Series Openers

The Chicago White Sox took a 1-0 series lead over Cleveland with a 3-0 shutout victory behind a four-inning save from Grant Taylor.

The Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 to open the American League Division Series on October 3, 2026. Munetaka Murakami provided the decisive offense with a two-run, 440-foot home run off Parker Messick that registered an exit velocity of 112.2 mph. Chicago pitcher Bryan Hudson escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning by retiring Chase DeLauter on a fly ball. Reliever Grant Taylor earned a four-inning save, the first of its kind in a Game 1 since 1969, by throwing four scoreless frames to close the contest. Messick recorded six strikeouts through three innings for Cleveland in the loss.

In the National League Division Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3. Tarik Skubal earned the win, retiring 15 consecutive batters at one point and striking out seven. Teoscar Hernandez opened the scoring with a two-run home run, followed by a 408-foot two-run blast from Kyle Tucker off AJ Smith-Shawver. The Braves attempted a comeback with solo home runs from Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies, the latter coming in the ninth inning. The Dodgers are scheduled to start Blake Snell in Game 2 on Sunday, while Atlanta manager Walt Weiss indicated Chris Sale may be held until Game 3.

During the ALDS matchup between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, Jonathan Aranda gave the Rays an early lead with a solo home run. In the final scheduled game of Day 1, the Milwaukee Brewers are set to start Jacob Misiorowski against San Diego Padres starter Robbie Ray.