Blue Jays, Brewers Put An End To Concerns Over MLB First Round Bye
Brewers crush Cubs 9-3, Blue Jays rout Yankees 10-1 after lengthy layoffs between regular season and division series
It's become a common belief across Major League Baseball that securing a bye through the first round of the playoffs can be a disadvantage.
It seemed that, under the new expanded format, the favored teams lost their division series round a disproportionate percentage of the time. The lengthy layoff after the end of the regular season, the thinking went, the "better" teams were at a disadvantage. Instead of continuing their regular season routine, teams were forced into scrimmages and watching the wild card series.
That theory seemed to be on life support when the Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2024 World Series despite their first-round bye. And Saturday's results in the first few games of the division series may have fully ended it.
After not playing in the wild card round, the Milwaukee Brewers started the division series round with a commanding 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. And it wasn't just them.
Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras grounds into a double play during the fifth inning of the National League Division Series game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday October 4, 2025 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Brewers, Blue Jays, Dominate Playoff Games After Lengthy Bye Layoff
The Cubs, coming off a dramatic, controversial series win over the San Diego Padres, came into Milwaukee and immediately got off to a hot start. Michael Busch launched a homer into right center field to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. But Milwaukee's offense immediately answered.
Brice Turang doubled in a run, William Contreras doubled in a run. Blake Perkins scored two with a single. Then, batting around, Jackson Chourio made it six with a two-run single of his own.
They added two more in the second inning, coasting to an easy, 9-3 win. One bye week down.
In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays hosted their first postseason series since 2017 against the favored New York Yankees. With the Yankees carrying the perceived momentum after coming from behind to beat the rival Boston Red Sox two straight in the Bronx. Even though Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two solo homers, New York battled back, getting Aaron Judge up with an opportunity to change the game in the 6th inning.
But the potential MVP struck out with the bases loaded and nobody out, chasing a Kevin Gausman pitch well out of the zone.
The Blue Jays' offense exploded for four runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth to put the game away, 10-1.
All the sudden, the playoff bye hasn't seemed to impact these teams nearly as much, has it? Toronto takes its 1-0 lead into game two on Sunday, while Brewers and Cubs have an off day ahead of game two on Monday. Oh, and the Philadelphia Phillies, who secured a bye of their own? They jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Dodgers. Maybe the layoff doesn't matter after all.