Major League Baseball

MLB Playoffs Top Plays: Giants, Red Sox, Astros and Brewers win on wild day of LDS action

Updated Oct. 9, 2021 12:29 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

If the past few days had fans dipping their toes in the MLB postseason waters, Friday was the day to cannonball into the deep end.

All four division series were on the schedule on Friday, starting with Astros-White Sox, a 9-4 Houston victory that pushed the Astros within one win of advancing to the ALCS. That was followed by the Brewers managing a 2-1 victory over the Braves.

And in Tampa, the Red Sox survived their home run derby with the Rays, winning 14-6.

Out west, the Dodgers and Giants closed out the night with Game 1 of their series – a matchup between the teams with the two best records in MLB this season.

The Giants shut out the Dodgers 4-0 to take a 1-0 series lead.

Scroll down for the top plays from a busy, exciting day.

San Francisco Giants 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 (SF leads series 1-0)

No time wasted

Buster Posey is back in the playoffs and wasted no time reminding fans of his greatness in October, hitting a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Giants the lead.

For more up-to-date news on all things Giants, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Caught in a Webb

The Giants sent Logan Webb to the mound in Game 1 to set the tempo for the series, and in seven-plus innings of work he did not disappoint.

Webb struck out 10 and only allowed five hits in 7.2 shutout innings, completely shutting down the Dodgers' lineup.

For more up-to-date news on all things Dodgers, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Bryant bomb

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Kris Bryant added one more run to the tally with a deep blast that made it 3-0.

After a Brandon Crawford home run in the bottom of the eighth, the Giants completed the 4-0 win to take a 1-0 series lead over their NL West rivals.

Boston Red Sox 14, Tampa Bay Rays 6 (series tied 1-1)

Setting the tone

After being shut out in Game 1, the Red Sox offense got right to business in the top of the first inning of Game 2.

Xander Bogaerts and Kiké Hernández both delivered RBI's to get a 2-0 lead early.

For more up-to-date news on all things Red Sox, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Grand entrance

The Rays spotted the Red Sox a 2-0 lead and wiped the deficit immediately in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a Jordan Luplow grand slam off Chris Sale.

For more up-to-date news on all things Rays, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Chipping away

The Red Sox could have been rattled by the Rays' impressive first inning, but they battled back in the third inning to cut into the four-run lead.

Once again, Bogaerts was in the middle of the action with a solo home run, followed by an Alex Verdugo solo homer to cut the Rays' lead to one.

Rally complete

The Red Sox's push to get back into the game was completed in the fifth inning with Hernández hitting a solo home run to tie it at 5-5.

And then a three-run shot from J.D. Martinez, Boston's fourth homer of the game, gave the Red Sox an 8-5 lead.

Controversial home run

Ji-Man Choi added another home run to the homer tally in this game with a sixth inning bomb that had to be reviewed by officials after a fan reached over the wall to catch the ball.

Pouring it on

The Red Sox made sure that if the Rays were to come back, they were going to have to overcome a large deficit in the last two innings to do so.

Rafael Devers added to the the Red Sox lead with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to give them an 11-6 lead.

After a few more runs of insurance, the Red Sox turned their offensive woes in Game 1 into a thing of the past, winning 14-6 to tie the series heading back to Boston.

Milwaukee Brewers 2, Atlanta Braves 1 (MIL leads series 1-0)

Aces in the hole

Through the first two innings, Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton was clinical, striking out five of six batters on just 27 pitches.

Through the first five innings, Morton had allowed just two hits while striking out nine batters.

For more up-to-date news on all things Braves, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes kept pace with Morton every step of the way, allowing just two hits through the first six innings pitched and striking out six batters.

To stay up to date on all things Brewers, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Rowdy rebel

It took seven innings, but the Brewers finally got to Morton by way of a two-run home run from Rowdy Tellez to give them a 2-0 lead.

Signs of life

The Braves' offense could only be described as anemic through the first seven innings of play, but they showed a pulse in the top of the eighth inning.

Joc Pederson's solo home run cut the Brewers' lead in half.

But in the end, the Brewers were able to hold off the Braves to get the early upper hand in the series, taking a 1-0 series lead.

Houston Astros 9, Chicago White Sox 4 (HOU leads series 2-0)

Early and often

Chicago's Luis Robert and Jose Abreu hit back-to-back singles before a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases.

Eloy Jiménez smacked a grounder to the second baseman, recording a productive out as a run scored for the Sox.

For more up-to-date news on all things White Sox, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Evening it up

The Astros were undeterred. They came back in the second by getting two men on base. Kyle Tucker shot a single up the middle to beat the shift and plate one.

Chas McCormick followed by lifting a sacrifice fly into left field to give Houston a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the third.

For more up-to-date news on all things Astros, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

White Sox answer

After going scoreless for three innings, the White Sox finally broke through in a major way in the top of the fifth inning.

Robert's RBI single scored Leury Garcia to tie the game at 2-2, continuing his hot start to this series with four hits in his first five at-bats.

By the bottom of the fifth inning, the White Sox found themselves ahead 4-2.

Back-and-forth

The White Sox lead was short-lived, with the Astros immediately responding in the bottom of the fifth inning.

After loading the bases, a Yuri Gurriel RBI single was able to score two Astros' baserunners to tie the game at 4-4.

Breaking it open

Through two games, Yordan Alvarez has been a catalyst for the Astros' offense, evidenced by his seventh-inning RBI to give the Astros the lead. He now has three RBIs through the first two games of this series.

And that was just the beginning of a five-run avalanche for the Astros, which was topped off by a two-run home run by Tucker to give them a 9-4 lead heading into the eighth.

That proved to be the backbreaker for the White Sox, with the Astros winning 9-4 to put a stranglehold in this best-of-five series with a 2-0 lead going to Chicago.

For more up-to-date news on all things MLB, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

MLB - Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays - 10/08/2021

MLB - Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros - 10/08/2021

MLB - Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers - 10/08/2021

MLB - Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants - 10/09/2021

Major League Baseball

Boston Red Sox

Tampa Bay Rays

Chicago White Sox

Houston Astros

Atlanta Braves

Milwaukee Brewers

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Francisco Giants

Kyle Tucker

Jose Altuve

Yordan Alvarez

Luis Robert

José Abreu

Chas McCormick

Leury García

Charlie Morton

Rowdy Tellez

Joc Pederson

Jordan Luplow

Xander Bogaerts

Alex Verdugo

Kiké Hernández

J.D. Martinez

Ji Man Choi

Buster Posey

Rafael Devers

Logan Webb

Kris Bryant

Brandon Crawford