Baseball

Edinson Volquez and the Kansas City Royals warmed up for the American League Championship Series by dispatching one of the most dangerous offenses in baseball.

And one game in, that’s proving to be ample practice for the most dangerous offense in baseball.

Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion suffered a ligament sprain to his left middle finger in Friday night's 5-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

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The MLB Playoffs have reached the Championship Series and the matchups in the American and National Leagues have been set.

Before we delve into the top 10 players remaining, let's set the ground rules.

The Kansas City Royals have taken Game 1 of the American League Championship Series with a 5-0 win over visiting Toronto.

Kansas City scored twice in the third inning on a pair run-scoring hits, upped the lead to 3-0 in the fourth on Salvador Perez's solo home run and then added two more in the eighth for insurance.

Edinson Volquez threw six shutout innings for Kansas City, while Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and Luke Hochevar followed to combine on a three-hit shutout. 

Marco Estrada took the loss for Toronto, allowing three runs in 5.1 innings.

Four teams remain in the MLB playoffs, and no matter who wins, it will be a celebration a long time coming.

The Toronto Blue Jays won a World Series in 1993, making them the most recent champions of the four squads left in the 2015 race. The New York Mets (1986) and Kansas City Royals (1985) have each been waiting a long time as well, although nothing compares to the Chicago Cubs with a drought since 1908.

The top two clubs in the American League showcased their resiliency in a pair of five-game division series thrillers, and now the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays will clash in the ALCS for a spot in the 2015 World Series.

The two lovable losers of baseball will face off with a chance to go to the World Series as the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs battle in the National League Championship Series.

While both teams entered the year with promising young talent, few actually believed either would reach this stage so soon. But they both kept winning in the regular season and reached the playoffs, where they pulled off impressive upsets in the division series.

The National League Championship Series (NLCS) field is officially set, as the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets both came away victorious in their respective division series.

The Cubs bested the rival St. Louis Cardinals in four games in what was the first postseason meeting between those two teams.

This is the first time the Cubs have made the playoffs since 2008 and the first time they have advanced to the NLCS since 2003. They will now be looking for their first NL pennant since 1945.

Somebody different will win the World Series this year.

Sick of the San Francisco Giants hoisting MLB's trophy every even year? Tired of the St. Louis Cardinals filling all the gaps in between? Longing for the day where the Evil Empire gets conquered while the other budding, big-market villains in Boston also step aside? Good news: Both the American League and National League Championship Series present fresh faces far removed from their last victory parade. 

OK, it's time to toss away the division series the way Jose Bautista tossed away his bat.

We're ready to move on to what should be two great championship series. But first—can I have that bat back for a sec?—let's revisit an extraordinary week of division series baseball.

There were 19 games, one shy of the maximum (only the Chicago Cubs wrapped up their series in four games). Most of the games were good, a handful were great...and then there was that Game 5 in Toronto.