Toronto's Alejandro Kirk smacks one of his two homers in the Blue Jays' 10-1 rout of the Yankees in Game 1 of the AL Divison Series in Toronto. (AP photo)

TORONTO (AP) — Alejandro Kirk and Vladmir Guerrero Jr. powered the Toronto Blue Jays to yet another home win over the New York Yankees, snapping a postseason losing streak that stretched back almost a decade.

Kirk hit two solo home runs, Guerrero also connected and the Blue Jays won a playoff game for the first time since 2016 by thumping the New York Yankees 10-1 in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.

Nathan Lukes had two hits, three RBIs and a diving catch, and Andrés Giménez added two hits and drove in a pair as the AL East champion Blue Jays used 14 hits to snap a seven-game postseason skid.

Toronto’s previous playoff win came in Game 4 of the 2016 American League Championship Series against Cleveland. The Blue Jays lost that series in five games.

Toronto was swept out of the wild-card round at Tampa Bay in 2020, at home against Seattle in 2022 and at Minnesota in 2023.

“To win one was nice,” Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman said. “To win one at home in front of our fans that have been awesome all season was really special.”

Gausman allowed one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings for the win.

Guerrero went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. He opened the scoring with a two-out drive in the first inning, the first postseason homer of his career, and added a sacrifice fly in Toronto’s four-run seventh.

“He always kind of raises his game when he plays the Yankees,” Gausman said. “What a night for him.”

Guerrero entered with three hits and one RBI in six previous playoff games.

“There was a little bit of a different feel about Vlad today,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.

Kirk hit a first-pitch homer in the second, his first in the postseason, then added a second shot off Paul Blackburn to begin a four-run eighth. He’s the first Mexican-born player to homer twice in a postseason game.

“It feels amazing to me, but it’s work paying off,” Kirk said through a translator.

Kirk has homered five times in his past three games dating to the final weekend of the regular season.

Toronto won for the seventh time in eight home games against New York this year. The Blue Jays went an AL-best 54-27 at home in the regular season.

The Blue Jays won eight of 13 regular-season meetings with the Yankees overall, giving them the tiebreaker for the AL East title after both teams finished 94-68. That gave Toronto a first-round playoff bye while it awaited the winner of the Wild Card Series between New York and Boston.

Making his third career postseason start, Yankees right-hander Luis Gil allowed two runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings. The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year took the loss.

“They were hunting the top of the zone a little bit and, I thought, put a lot of good swings on them,” New York manager Aaron Boone said.

The Yankees didn’t put a runner in scoring position until Anthony Volpe doubled to begin the sixth. Austin Wells singled Volpe to third and Trent Grisham walked to load the bases. Gausman struck out Aaron Judge but walked Cody Bellinger to bring home a run.

After Ben Rice popped out, Louis Varland came on and struck out Giancarlo Stanton, ending the at-bat with a 101 mph fastball.

TIGERS 3, MARINERS 2 (11)

Zach McKinstry singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the 11th inning and the Detroit Tigers outlasted the Seattle Mariners for a Game 1 victory in Seattle.

Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the resurgent Tigers, who squandered a huge lead in the AL Central and nearly collapsed entirely down the stretch before squeezing into the playoffs.

After winning their Wild Card Series at Cleveland, they can take a commanding 2-0 lead in this best-of-five matchup against AL West champion Seattle with dominant ace Tarik Skubal on the mound Sunday.

“All year long, I feel like we were either down or we were up,” McKinstry said. “We’re up right now, and we’re getting a lot of wins. Things are going our way.”

In the first extra-inning game of this postseason, McKinstry pounced on the first pitch he saw from reliever Carlos Vargas, a 99.6 mph sinker, and grounded it up the middle to score Spencer Torkelson from second base.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

DODGERS 5 PHILLIES 3

Teoscar Hernández rallied the Dodgers with a three-run homer in the seventh inning that bailed out Shohei Ohtani, both on the mound and at the plate, and led Los Angeles to a win in Game 1 of their NL Division Series in Philadelphia.

Ohtani struck out four straight times at the plate, the final time in the seventh with no outs and two runners on against Matt Strahm.

No worries, at least for the reigning World Series champions.

Following a Mookie Betts popout, Hernández silenced a roaring Phillies crowd with an opposite-field drive to right off Strahm for a 5-3 lead. The veteran slugger gestured in wild celebration in his trot around the bases.

His hat off, Ohtani rose from his dugout seat to join in the fun, and exhale once he was on track for the win.

A three-time MVP, Ohtani recovered from a three-run second in his first career playoff pitching start to shut down the Phillies and finish with nine strikeouts over six innings.

Alex Vesia retired pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa with the bases loaded in the eighth to preserve the lead. Roki Sasaki worked the ninth for his first career save.

The Phillies had only two hits after they scored three times in the third on J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple and Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly.

BREWERS 9, CUBS 3

Jackson Chourio sparked Milwaukee’s fast start at the plate, and Freddy Peralta delivered a steady performance on the mound.

The Brewers looked more than ready for October.

Chourio capped Milwaukee’s six-run first inning with a two-run single, and the Brewers trounced the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of their NL Division Series in Milwaukee.

Hoping for a breakthrough after years of playoff frustration, Milwaukee showed off the same approach that helped the team roll to baseball’s best record during the regular season. The Brewers ranked third in the majors in scoring this year despite finishing just 22nd in homers.

It was more of the same in the team’s postseason opener. The NL Central champions had 13 hits and no home runs, while three solo drives accounted for Chicago’s offense.

“The home runs are so important these days, (but) this is scrapping hits together, keeping the line moving, all the cliches that you can think of,” said Blake Perkins, who had two hits for the Brewers.

The only issue for the Brewers on Saturday was Chourio’s right hamstring tightness. He departed in the second after becoming the first player with three hits in the first two innings of a playoff game.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is on Monday night.

Staked to an early lead, Peralta permitted two runs in 5 2/3 innings. His nine strikeouts tied Don Sutton, Yovani Gallardo and Brandon Woodruff for the Brewers’ single-game playoff record.

Michael Busch, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner homered for Chicago.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell’s decision to start Matthew Boyd on short rest didn’t work out. The All-Star left-hander was lifted with two out in the first.