The Indians complete a sweep of the Red Sox in the ALDS with a 4 – 3 win in Fenway Park. A two-run single by Tyler Naquin and a two-run homer by Coco Crisp give them an early lead, but Boston claws back in David Ortiz’s final game to close the lead to a single run; they have two men on board in the bottom of the 9th when closer Cody Allen registers the final out to earn his second save of the series.

The Nationals win Game 3 of the NLDS, 8 – 3 over the Dodgers. Anthony Rendon homers off Kenta Maeda as part of a four-run 3rd inning, but Los Angeles comes back to within one run thanks in part to a two-run pinch homer by Carlos Ruiz off Gio Gonzalez in the 5th. The Nats put the game away with 4 runs in the top of the 9th, including a homer by Jayson Werth off closer Kenley Jansen.

In the NLDS, Los Angeles takes an early lead on a solo homer by Corey Seager, the second batter of the game, but a three-run blast by Jose Lobaton off Rich Hill in the 4th turns the tide, allowing Washington to win the game, 5 – 2.

Toronto sweeps its Division Series with a 7 – 6, 10-inning win over the Rangers. Toronto takes a quick lead on homers by Edwin Encarnacion and Russell Martin in the 1st, but Texas comes back with homers by Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor, then takes a short-lived lead on a two-run double by Mitch Moreland in the 6th. The Blue Jays tie it up on a passed ball, however, and in Matt Bush’s third inning on the mound, Josh Donaldson scores the winning run from second base when Odor throws wildly to first in attempting to turn a double play.

The Cubs win Game 2 of the NLDS, 5 – 2, over the Giants at Wrigley Field by jumping on starter Jeff Samardzija for 4 runs over the first two innings. Starter Kyle Hendricks has to leave in the 4th after being hit on the forearm by a batted ball, but his successor, Travis Wood, becomes only the second relief pitcher in postseason history to hit a home run after Rosy Ryan in the 1924 World Series, going deep off George Kontos in the bottom of the 4th.

Game 1 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Nationals features a match-up of aces – Clayton Kershaw vs. Max Scherzer – but neither lives up to his billing. Scherzer gives up a pair of homers to Corey Seager and Justin Turner, while Kershaw stumbles through five innings, allowing a slew of baserunners, but limiting the Nats to three runs. Those early scores stand up until the end of the game as Los Angeles comes out on top, 4 – 3. In the other NLDS, Johnny Cueto for the Giants and Jon Lester for the Cubs lock up in a scoreless pitchers’ duel until the bottom of the 8th, when Javier Baez hits a solo homer. Aroldis Chapman comes out to pitch the 9th, and while Buster Posey comes close to tying the game with a drive to the left-field wall, the Giants fail to score and go down, 1 – 0.

In Game 2 of the ALDS, Toronto hits four homers off Yu Darvish of the Rangers on its way to a 5 – 3 win. In the other ALDS, a three-run homer by Lonnie Chisenhall of the Indians is the key blow as the postseason struggles of Boston’s David Price continue. Price is chased after only 3 1/3 innings, while his opponent, Corey Kluber tosses seven scoreless innings as Cleveland wins, 6 – 0, to take a two-games-to-none lead.

It’s a battle of solo home runs in the other ALDS as Cleveland defeats Boston, 5 – 4. Andrew Benintendi, Sandy Leon and Brock Holt go deep for Boston, but the Indians reply with three solo blasts off Rick Porcello in the 3rd, by Roberto Perez, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor. In a daring move, Terry Francona removes Trevor Bauer in the 5th inning in order to save him for a possible Game 4 start on short rest, and it works as relievers Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen give up only one run the rest of the way to preserve the win.

The Blue Jays score early and often in defeating the Rangers, 10 – 1, in Game 1 of the ALDS. They chase Cole Hamels in the 4th inning, by which time they are already up, 7 – 0, the big blow being a bases-loaded triple by Troy Tulowitzki. For his part, Marco Estrada is masterful, using a diet of change-ups to keep Texas off the scoreboard until the 9th.

2016 – Madison Bumgarner adds to his postseason legend by pitching a complete game shutout as San Francisco prevails over the Mets in the National League Wild Card Game, 3 – 0. Conor Gillaspie breaks a scoreless tie with a three-run homer off Jeurys Familia in the top of the 9th, negating a great start by Noah Syndergaard who had gone toe-to-toe with Bumgarner for the first seven innings.