Shortly after noon in Atlanta, Nick Senzel of the Cincinnati Reds slapped the first pitch from Max Fried to right field for a single, beginning a day of baseball unlike any that had come before.
Eight postseason games, all starting in a span of around 10 hours.
“This is like September Madness,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “It’s going to be mad.”
Wednesday indeed had a bit of an NCAA Tournament feel, with a smorgasbord of playoff games starting early in the afternoon and lasting long into the night as the Yankees finished off Cleveland early Thursday in the longest nine-inning game in major league history.