We had a full slate of four games on Columbus Day, each game exciting and highlighted by compelling storylines. I can’t remember another divisional series round with such intrigue and drama, but maybe that’s just because I’m more plugged in to the games? Either way, I’m not complaining.

ALDS

Kansas City 9, Houston 6, Series tied 2-2

This one was wild. After a normal 6 1/2 innings, the Astros led the Royals 3-2. In the bottom of the 7th, 21 year-old Carlos Correa hit his second dinger of the game with Jose Altuve aboard, and Colby Rasmus followed that up with a solo job of his own to give the Astros a 6-2 lead.

Rasmus has been colossal for the ‘Stros thus far in the playoffs, posting a 2.161 OPS, including 3 home runs.

Everyone was feeling pretty good in Houston, especially the guy running Governor Greg Abbott’s official twitter feed.

Oops…The office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted a congratulatory message to Astros when they were up, 6-2. pic.twitter.com/iwCDk5IhKu

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 12, 2015

To say this is where the wheels came off for the Astros would be like saying “this is where the wheels came off” when the Titanic hit that iceberg.

In the top of the 8th, the redoubtable Will Harris (he of a 1.90 regular season ERA) surrendered three straight hits to start the inning, which is where the action picks up here:

Tony Sipp’s reaction to the Correa error is one of the most emotional, demonstrative reactions you’ll ever see on a Major League baseball field.

Eric Hosmer added a two run homer in the top of the 9th to give the Royals a comfortable 9-6 win.

Quote of the game: “Baseball is crazy.” – Carlos Gomez.

Unappreciated: Lance McCullers’ great outing in a potential series-clinching win before the trainwreck began.

Strange: The bullpen phones went out late in this game, which meant that the dugout would yell to the outfielders, who would yell to the bullpen to say who they wanted to warm up. This added to the circus atmosphere … The win goes to Ryan Madson after giving up all those runs and owning a 9.00 ERA and the loss goes to Tony Sipp with a 0.00 ERA.

Toronto 8, Texas 4, Series tied 2-2

The Blue Jays jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead thanks to homers from Josh Donaldson, Chris Colabello, and Kevin Pillar.

The Jays tacked on three more in the top of the third to jump out to an early 7-0 advantage.

The real story line in this one was that David Price came on in relief of R.A. Dickey with two outs in the 5th. This was a do-or-die game for the Blue Jays, but with a 7-1 lead, you’d think they could piece together the second half of the game with their existing bullpen options, and keep Price available for the all-important Game 5. But Price got the call and wasn’t great, giving up three runs in three innings, but “earning” the win along the way.

The general consensus seems to be that the Jays wanted Stroman to pitch the winner-take-all game regardless, and by pitching Price yesterday in relief they were able to avoid all of the drama that would come along with that decision. This makes sense because the Rangers struggle with off speed stuff, and Price is more of a fastball/slider guy. He has also been awful in the playoffs in his career.

Both ALDS will play win or go home games on Wednesday. The two series have mirrored each other closely.

NLDS

Chicago 8, St. Louis 6, Chicago leads 2-1

The Cubs set a Major League record by becoming the first team to ever hit SIX home runs in a postseason game.

This offensive outburst backed a less-than-stellar Jake Arrieta, who surrendered four earned runs in 5.2 innings, but still managed to strike out nine men.

Something to keep an eye on: Addison Russell injured himself on a triple and had to leave the game. Could be big down the road, but Javy Baez isn’t a bad insurance policy to have.

New York 13, Los Angeles 7, New York leads 2-1

In the top of the second, Mets starter Matt Harvey surrendered three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out. This brought up Yasmani Grandal, who cleared the bases with a single and an error from Curtis Granderson.

Just about a worse-case scenario start for Harvey and the Mets, considering Matt needed to turn in a solid effort to make Mets fans forget about the whole innings limit debacle.

However, Granderson would redeem himself and Harvey in the next inning, when the Mets put together a little rally of their own, scoring one on a Lucas Duda RBI single, then loading the bases with one out. This brought up Harvey, who K’d, leaving the inning in the hands of the man who just committed the costly error.

4-3 New York after two.

In The bottom of the 4th, former Red Sox great Yoenis Cespedes hit a three run MISSILE to put the Met lead at 10-3, sparking a “we want Utley” chant from the delirious Citi Field crowd.

Both the Cubs and the Mets have a chance to clinch in today’s games, starting at 4:30 and 8 PM respectively.

Rangers Win 5-3, Up 1-0 in ALDS

As you’ve most likely heard by now, David Price is now 0-6 in his career in games he’s started in the playoffs.

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Price (L, 0-1)	7.0	5	5	5	2	5	2	6.43

The Rangers’ eight and nine hitters Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos each went deep, with Odor also getting plunked twice, scoring three of the Rangers’ five runs, and turning in a couple of nice plays in the field. He seemed to be at the heart of everything big that happened in this game.

Yovani Gallardo was good enough, limiting Toronto’s high-octane offense to two runs over five.

A lot of key injuries in this one, as Adrian Beltre strained his back early in this one, and had to leave after hitting a bullet up the middle for an RBI single. He’s tough as nails, but not playing in today’s game.

For the Jays, likely MVP Josh Donaldson got kneed in the head by Odor while breaking up a double play, and had to leave with concussion-like symptoms.

Jose Bautista also left the game with hamstring tightness. Both are in the lineup for Toronto today.

Red Sox Spin:

-Not so sure I’m crazy about throwing a long-term deal at Price. I know that given his body of work, Price is bound to have playoff success at some point. But the way things stand now, I don’t want him anywhere near my playoff roster.

-Mike Napoli was 0-3 with two strikeouts and a walk.

Astros Win 5-2, Up 1-0 in ALDS

Quintessential Collin McHugh in this one, going six, allowing two runs, and only striking out one, but inducing a lot of weak contact. However, both of the runs McHugh surrendered were solo home runs by the Royals’ Kendrys Morales, neither of which qualified as “weak contact.”

The Astros’ flavor of offense similarly surprised no one. They got three hits from Jose Altuve, slugged a pair of dingers, and struck out FOURTEEN times.

Homers from George Springer, who had a great game:

And Colby Rasmus, who for the second time in two games, ambushed an unsuspecting pitcher by going deep on the first pitch he sees from said pitcher.

Springer’s homer came off Chris Young, who entered in relief for Royals’ starter Yordano Ventura in the top of the third after a long rain delay. He struck out six straight Astros at one point, and the announcing crew couldn’t get over how tall he is (6’10”). When he faced Altuve it was apparently the biggest height discrepancy in playoff history.

Today:

-March Madness style slate of four back-to-back-to-back-to-back games today. Great one going on right now in the Jays-Rangers series.

We know it’s tough to keep track of every MLB playoff game, especially in the early rounds when some games start way too early and some games start way too late. So throughout the playoffs, we’ll try to do really quick recaps of every game so you can stay up-to-date.

Cy Young hopeful Dallas Keuchel tossed six innings of shutout ball, striking out seven (including Brett Gardner three times).

The ‘Stros hit two solo home runs off of Masahiro Tanaka, one by Colby Rasmus and one by Carlos Gomez. Both featured above-average bat flips.

Rasmus:

Gomez:

I’m sure this didn’t sit well with the self-appointed Czar of Baseball’s Unwritten Rules, Brian McCann, who has a history with Gomez

Surprised McCann didn’t try to start a fight after this one, too.

Houston cruised to a 3-0 victory, and Astros pitching held the Yankees’ offense to just three singles.

Red Sox spin:

Jacoby Ellsbury didn’t start for the Yankees. Former GM Ben Cherington has to feel pretty good about that.

Tonight:

Arrieta vs. Cole in a one-game playoff. Both teams deserve better as 97 and 98-win teams, but as a fan you can’t ask for a better matchup.