Baseball

The Chicago Cubs have one foot in the National League Championship Series following Monday's 8-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

CBS Sports properly encapsulated the emotions of the entire Cubs fanbase since the franchise is nine innings away from its first NLCS appearance since that fateful 2003 postseason trip:   

Almost exactly seven months ago, Marcus Stroman lay crumpled on the ground after tearing his ACL during spring training fielding drills. 

On Wednesday, he'll pitch the biggest game of his young career and easily the most important contest of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Chicago Cubs infielder Addison Russell exited Game 3 of the National League Division Series after suffering a hamstring injury and was replaced by Javier Baez.

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The Toronto Blue Jays stood up to the challenge for the second straight game. With their season on the line Monday against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, the Jays pulled out an 8-4 victory.

Toronto set the tone with a three-run top of the first inning and didn't let the Rangers back into Game 4. The American League Division Series is now tied, 2-2. 

The Chicago Cubs aren’t playing around.

After St. Louis Cardinals pinch hitter Randal Grichuk hit a fifth-inning home run in Game 2 of the National League Division Series Friday night, he came out for a curtain call.

It was strange. The dinger cut Chicago's lead to 6-3, the eventual final score. It was big, but certainly not a heroic walk-off in extra innings.

For a few minutes, it looked like the Houston Astros were going to win Game 4 of the American League Division Series in a romp, which would've pushed them one step closer to the World Series.

But it really was only for a few minutes. The situation took a hard left turn, and now the Astros find themselves in the same place they were a week ago: Reeling from a missed opportunity and needing to win a do-or-die game to extend their season.

Carlos Correa and the Houston Astros had the Kansas City Royals on the ropes. But they couldn't provide the knockout punch.

The defending American League champions rallied for five runs in the top of the eighth inning Monday to pick up a shocking 9-6 win in Game 4 of an American League Division Series. The comeback set up a Game 5 in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday.

The New York Mets fell behind by three runs early but then scored 10 straight to rout the Los Angeles Dodgers, 13-7, in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Monday night.

The Mets now have a 2-1 lead and will be looking to clinch in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

In just a few hours, (5:07 p.m. CT to be exact), a pivotal Game 3 of the of the National League Division Series will take place at the historic Wrigley Park, where the hometown Chicago Cubs are looking to break the series tie against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Separated for most of the division series, the American League and National League coalesce for a full batch of MLB playoff action on Monday.

The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, both sporting 2-1 leads, can punch tickets past the American League Division Series by winning Game 4. Each squad has a chance to advance at home against the favored opposition.