The New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Detroit Tigers are heading to the divisional round of the MLB Postseason!
Yankees 4-0 Red Sox
The Yankees became the first team since the 2022 MLB Postseason expansion to win their respective Wild Card series after losing Game 1.
They advanced after 24-year-old starting pitcher Cam Schlittler became the first pitcher in MLB Postseason history to throw eight innings of shutout ball while striking out 12 batters without allowing a single walk.
Schlittler started the year out in Double-A ball of the Yankees' minor league system. Now, he's in the MLB history record books.
All of the Yankees' four runs came in the fourth inning, and it started with an RBI single from Amed Rosario. It was followed by another RBI single from Anthony Volpe.
The next two runs came from an Austin Wells infield single that had the Red Sox players twisting in every direction for the ball.
Seven Yankees players recorded at least one hit and finished 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Meanwhile, Masataka Yoshida led the Red Sox with two of their five total hits.
New York will go on to face another division rival in the Toronto Blue Jays for Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series on Saturday, October 4th.
Cubs 3-1 Padres
After a ninth-inning home run from the Padres' Jackson Merrill, who finished 2-for-4 on the night, the Cubs managed to hold on to advance to the NLDS, where they'll take on baseball's best in the Milwaukee Brewers.
Things got dicey in the top of the ninth.
After Merrill's home run, Xander Bogaerts was rung up on a very questionable strike three call. Then, Cubs reliever Brad Keller proceeded to hit both Ryan O'Hearn and Bryce Johnson back-to-back, putting the tying run on first.
Cubs reliever Andrew Kittredge came in to close it all out to put the Chicago faithful at ease as they advanced to the NLDS with a pop-up to the man who knocked in the team's first run of the game.
Chicago got things started in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI single from Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Padres starter Yu Darvish then walked home the second run, not even being able to record a single out. San Diego went with their bullpen the entire rest of the way.
Chicago poured on some insurance when Michael Busch launched a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
And that's all it took for the Cubs to take Game 3. It is their first postseason win since the 2017 NLDS.
Busch and Crow-Armstrong led the Cubs in hitting as both went 3-for-4 on the night. Chicago put up a total of 13 hits and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Merrill and Freddy Fermin led San Diego with two hits each, while the rest of the team only had three hits combined.
Both teams left eight runners on base.
The Cubs will face the Brewers in Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday, October 4th (time to be determined).
Tigers 6-3 Guardians
After heading into the sixth inning all tied up at one a piece, Detroit's Dillon Dingler launched a solo home run to left field, putting the Tigers up 2-1.
But it was the seventh inning that the Tigers' bats came alive.
Detroit scored four runs on five hits off Guardians relievers Erik Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis, both of whom pitched in Game 1 of the series.
The Guardians tried to pull off a rally in the bottom of the eighth inning when two runs scored on an infield hit by Jose Ramirez. But Tigers pitcher Will Vest bobbled the throw to first.
Ramirez was thrown out by Vest for the final out at second to go into the ninth inning, where the Guardians failed to put any more runs on the board.
Cleveland burned through their bullpen after letting starting pitcher Slade Cecconi go 2.1 innings after giving up one run on two hits.
Detroit starter Jack Flaherty went 4.2 innings, giving up one hit on three hits, striking out four, and walking two.
Both teams came into the matchup with 1,167 wins against each other (postseason included). Now, the advantage goes to the Tigers.
Detroit will face the Seattle Mariners, with Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series scheduled for Saturday, October 4th.