The Royals take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS with a 6 – 4 win over the Orioles. They break a 4 – 4 tie with two runs in the top of the 9th.

2013 – Carlos Beltran is the hero as the Cardinals take Game 1 of the NLCS, 3 – 2, over the Dodgers. Beltran drives in the Cards’ first two runs with a double in the 3rd, guns down Mark Ellis at the plate in the 10th, and ends the game by driving in Daniel Descalso with a single in the bottom of the 13th inning.

Ace Justin Verlander pitches what is for him a typical game, striking out 11 and throwing a shutout as Detroit eliminates Oakland with a 6 – 0 win in Game 5 of the ALDS.

Jayson Werth’s walk-off home run off Lance Lynn leading off the bottom of the 9th sends Washington to a 2 – 1 win over St. Louis in the other NLDS. The Nats score once in 7 innings against starter Kyle Lohse, on a 2nd-inning homer by Adam LaRoche, while his opponent Ross Detwiler limits the Cards to an unearned run in 6 innings. Three relievers then follow with a scoreless inning each for Washington, with Drew Storen ending up the winner.

For the first time since the divisional playoffs began in 1995, all four series will go the distance to a Game 5 when both the Nationals and Orioles knot their respective series against the Cardinals and Yankees. Washington and Baltimore join the A’s and Giants, who also forced a decisive game with victories over the Tigers and Reds in yesterday’s LDS games.

The Giants complete a tremendous comeback by defeating the Reds, 6 – 4, in Game 5 of the NLDS, completing a three-game sweep in Cincinnati after losing the first two games at home. A 5th-inning grand slam by Buster Posey off Mat Latos is the key blow, capping a six-run outburst.

The Orioles also even the ALDS against the Yankees with a 2 – 1 win, meaning that all four Division Series will go the distance this year. J.J. Hardy drives in the winning run with a double, scoring Manny Machado in the 13th inning in the longest postseason game in Orioles history.

The Tigers win Game 3 of the ALCS, 5 – 2, over Texas, but still trail the Rangers, 2 games to 1. Doug Fister allows a 1st-inning run, but then settles down, not giving up another score until the 8th. But by that time, Detroit has put five runs across the plate, on solo homers by Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta off Colby Lewis, another by Miguel Cabrera off Koji Uehara, and a two-run single by Austin Jackson.

The Giants, with their 3-2 victory over the Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS at Turner Field, advance to the National League Championship Series to play the Phillies. After the last out of the game, the San Francisco players come onto the field to salute the opposing manager, Bobby Cox, who is retiring after 29 years in the dugout.

Jonathan Papelbon, who had never given up a run in any of his previous 26 postseason innings, allows two inherited runners to score in the eighth, and yields another three runs in the ninth, giving the Angels, who trailed 5-1 going into the sixth inning, a 7-6 victory over the Red Sox. The Halos’ comeback victory at Fenway completes a three-game sweep of the ALDS over a team which historically had been their nemesis, losing their past four postseason encounters with Boston.