Mercury rising: Red-hot Dodgers crush Braves in playoff opener

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers, chasing a rare World Series three-peat, opened their Major League Baseball (MLB) playoff campaign with a 5-3 win over Atlanta on Saturday while the Tampa Bay Rays rode a one-hit gem from pitcher Drew Rasmussen to score a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees.

Six strong innings from pitcher Tarik Skubal and home runs from Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy propelled the Dodgers over the Braves.

Skubal, the reigning two-time Cy Young Award-winner acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline in August, delivered in his first post-season start for the Dodgers, settling down after surrendering an opening single to retire 15 straight batters.

In sizzling, 100-F (38c) temperatures at Dodger Stadium, Skubal gave up just two hits, including a solo homer to Sean Murphy in the sixth, and had ample support from the Dodgers offense as Los Angeles seized a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five National League division series.

"I think I was just trying to match the temperature out there," said Skubal, whose fastball hit 101 mph in the second inning. "It was a hot one."

Hernandez gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a 431-foot fourth inning blast off Atlanta relief pitcher Victor Mederos.

Tucker doubled the lead with a two-run shot in the sixth inning with Muncy adding a solo homer two batters later.

Ozzie Albies belted a two-run homer for the Braves to slice the deficit to 5-3 in the ninth inning before the Dodgers closed it out.

The game was one of four second-round series openers on Saturday.

In Florida, Rasmussen held the Yankees without a hit through eight and two-thirds innings.

Yankees catcher Austin Wells broke up his bid for just the fourth no-hitter in MLB post-season history with a double down the first-base line with two out in the eighth.

But Wells's inexplicable attempt to reach third saw him thrown out on a perfect relay from Victor Mesa Jr. to shortstop Taylor Walls to third baseman Junior Caminero.

"Just obviously not a good decision there," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "But (the) biggest issue is just Rasmussen shutting us down."

Rasmussen struck out 10 and walked two over eight innings in front of a raucous 40,000-strong crowd at Tropicana Field to make Jonathan Aranda's third-inning home run off Gerrit Cole stand up.

The Chicago White Sox, fueled by a two-run home run from Munetaka Murakami, beat the Guardians 3-0 in Cleveland for a 1-0 lead in their American League division series.

After three straight seasons with 100 or more defeats the White Sox finished the regular season with an 84-74 record, snagging the sixth seed in the American League and ousting the Houston Astros in two games in the Wild Card round.

In the late game, National League top seeds the Milwaukee Brewers came from behind to dig out a nail-biting 3-2 victory over the in-form San Diego Padres.

The Padres, who arrived in the playoffs in blistering form, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning after Luis Campusano drove in a run for Xander Bogaerts before Ethan Salas crossed home plate on a fielder's choice.

But Jackson Chourio's two-run home run knotted it at 2-2 in the bottom of the third before William Contreras's solo shot in the seventh gave the Brewers the lead.

There was controversy in the ninth inning though when Ty France launched what looked destined to be a home run — giving the Padres a 4-3 lead — into the right field.