After three days of exciting wild-card action, including three elimination Game 3s, the MLB Division Series began Saturday, with four matchups on the day.

First, the No. 1 seed Brewers bombarded the Cubs with a hot start in a 9-3 victory. It was then the Blue Jays’ turn to go wild on offense, as they scored eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings en route to a 10-1 win over the Yankees.

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The 2024 World Series champion Dodgers were the only team to sweep (the Reds) in the wild-card round, and they take on the Phillies in the penultimate game of the day. Lastly, the AL West champion Mariners host the Tigers, who vanquished the Guardians in their wild-card series to salvage an epic end-of-season collapse.

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Blue Jays’ bats, pitching stifle Yankees

The Toronto Blue Jays used good pitching and continuous hitting to rout the New York Yankees 10-1 in Game 1 of the ALDS. Yankees starter Luis Gil didn’t reach the fourth inning, as the Blue Jays recorded four hits off him, two of them solo home runs from Alejandro Kirk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that gave Toronto an early 2-0 lead.

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Through five innings, the Yankees had no answer for Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who kept the aggressive Bronx Bombers’ bats quiet. It wasn’t until the top of the sixth that he finally got into trouble, loading the bases with no outs. He managed to strike Aaron Judge out in an eight-pitch at-bat, and then he walked Cody Bellinger to give New York its only run of the contest. Not clear of trouble yet, Gausman got Ben Rice to pop out before he was relieved by Louis Varland, who faced Giancarlo Stanton with two outs and the bases still loaded. Varland dialed up the speed and struck out Stanton with a 101-mph fastball to end the threat.

The Yankees’ bullpen, on the other hand, couldn’t keep the Blue Jays off the board. Luke Weaver failed to record an out while facing three hitters, and then Fernando Cruz and Paul Blackburn got rocked over the final two Toronto innings, with seven more runs scoring on seven hits.

During the Blue Jays’ scoring spree in the seventh and eighth innings, Kirk hit a second home run to increase the lead and add to the Yankees’ misery. Toronto is now 72-4 this year when scoring at least five runs. Game 2 begins at 4:08 p.m. ET Sunday in Toronto.

Brewers smack Cubs 9-3 behind hot start

The No. 1 seed in the National League sure looked like it Saturday, with the Milwaukee Brewers crushing the Chicago Cubs 9-3 behind a red-hot first and second inning.

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Although Cubs first baseman Michael Busch led off the game with a solo homer, it didn’t take long for the Brewers to build an insurmountable lead. They raced to a 6-1 score after the first inning, thanks to five RBI doubles and singles, and expanded that lead to 9-1 in the second.

Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner added solo home runs of their own in the sixth and eighth innings, but it was far too little, too late for the Cubs to undo the damage of Milwaukee’s opening two frames. It didn’t help Chicago that Brewers starter Freddy Peralta had a stellar game in his own right, with nine strikeouts and just four hits allowed in 5 2/3 innings.

Milwaukee finished the game with a whopping 13 hits and eight RBI. Three of those came off the bat of left fielder Jackson Chourio, who was pulled from the game after the second inning due to hamstring tightness. Game 2 for Chicago and Milwaukee begins at 9:08 p.m. ET Monday.

NLDS Game 1: Dodgers at Phillies, live on TBS
ALDS Game 1: Tigers at Mariners, 8:38 p.m. ET, FS1

MLB divisional round live blog

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more from Day 1 of the division series: