Budweiser announces Postseason 'Leadoff Buds' sweepstakes
There’s no better way to gain immediate momentum in a postseason game than by crushing a homer in the first inning. And this year, fans can also win a year's worth of beer whenever a slugger tees off to start a game, thanks to Budweiser.
Brewers star left fielder Jackson Chourio smashed the first pitch of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers and deposited it over the right-field wall for a leadoff home run -- it was the fifth first-inning homer of the 2026 playoffs.
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Entering the 2026 postseason, there had been 415 first-inning home runs in postseason history (Jose Altuve led the way all-time with eight of them). In the 2025 postseason, there were 18 first-inning homers, with the Brewers (five) and Vlad Guerrero Jr. (three) leading teams and players, respectively, throughout October. Guerrero was responsible for the final first-inning dinger of the year: A solo shot in World Series Game 5 off of the Dodgers' Blake Snell, who also allowed Chourio's leadoff homer.
Even more exciting is not just first-inning homers but leadoff shots.
Since the first World Series in 1903, there had been 77 leadoff home runs in postseason play entering this fall. Sixty hitters had at least one postseason leadoff dinger, with Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber leading the field with five. The Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., the Astros' Jeremy Peña and Chourio added to that total this October.
Here is a list of every first-inning homer hit so far during the 2026 postseason:
- Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD), NLWC Game 1 vs. CHC (leadoff)
- Manny Machado (SD), NLWC Game 1 vs. CHC
- Jeremy Peña (HOU), ALWC Game 2 vs. CWS (leadoff)
- Michael Harris II (ATL), NLWC Game 3 vs. PHI
- Jackson Chourio (MIL), NLCS Game 3 vs. LAD (leadoff)
The next time a home run is hit in the first inning (including those exciting leadoff moments!) head to Budweiser's accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram, or TikTok. Reply to the relevant social post about the sweepstakes with the hashtags #LeadoffBud and #Sweepstakes and you could be the lucky winner of a year's supply of beer.
Terms and conditions apply, and you must be 21+ at the time of entry to win.