The 2026 Major League Baseball postseason got underway with four Wild Card Series Game 1s on Tuesday. Since each Wild Card Series is a best-of-three affair, these were especially critical Game 1s. Here are the final scores and schedule for Tuesday's wall-to-wall playoff action so far: To sum up all the Game 1 action, we're here to declare a winner and loser from each of the four games.
You can find those authoritative and inarguable declarations just below. The postseason has barely begun, and already the Atlanta third baseman has made it one to remember -- at least for himself and his Braves teammates. With the hosts down 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth and two on with two outs, Riley stepped in against lockdown closer Jhoan Duran, who was in his second inning of work.
Realmuto set up for a fastball outside, and Duran unfurled it at 99.9 mph. However, he missed his spot and left it center-cut. Riley, who endured a frankly terrible 2026 regular season at the plate, didn't miss this time: The ball left the bat at 104.6 mph and traveled 385 feet to right center.
Before Riley took that swing, the Braves had a 28.5% chance of winning Game 1. When the ball landed, the Braves had a 92.9% chance of winning, which they did. As the CBS Sports Research Desk notes, Riley has now homered in three of his last four postseason games against the Phillies.
Overall, it was Riley's sixth home run in his 37 career postseason games. Sure, one could home in on Jhoan Duran for this dishonor, but, really, his extended high-leverage relief outing turned on one bad pitch. One could perhaps ding Phillies manager Don Mattingly for stretching Duran and calling upon him in the seventh.
That, though, doesn't seem fair. Duran is the Phillies' best reliever, and Mattingly called upon him to get some critical outs against the heart of the Atlanta order. It didn't work out, but it's an eminently defensible decision.
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