NY Yankees eliminated Cleveland Guardians yesterday in Game 5 of the MLB playoffs

The GIST: A winner-take-all Game 5, a down-to-the-wire series opener and whatever the hell is happening here— yesterday was quite the day in baseball. Even better, there’s another doubleheader on deck tonight. Let’s tee it up.

American League (AL): Monday’s rain delay couldn’t drown out the bats of the No. 2 NY Yankees, who eliminated the No. 3 Cleveland Guardians with yesterday’s 5–1 Game 5 victory. NY’s sluggers came through — designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and outfielder Aaron Judge blasted early home runs, and the Bronx Bombers never looked back.

• No time to waste, the Yanks are off to Houston for tonight’s 7:37 p.m. ET AL Championship Series (ALCS) Game 1 vs. the No. 1 Astros. And Taylor Swift’s certainly ready for this, because there’s no shortage of bad blood between these powerhouses.

• It’ll be a rematch of the 2017 ALCS, in which Houston defeated NY en route to their asterisks-tainted World Series title, and the 2019 ALCS, which the Astros won in thrilling walk-off fashion. This is going to be good.

National League (NL): Meanwhile, the NLCS has already begun. TheNo. 6 Philadelphia Phillies jumped out to an early lead in the best-of-seven set, downing the No. 5 San Diego Padres 2–0 last night. It was all about the Phillies’ pitching staff, who shut down the electric Padres’ offense. No small task.

• Along with crucial momentum in the series, there’s even more riding on today’s 4:35 p.m. ET Game 2 — sibling bragging rights. The Phillies will start ace pitcher Aaron Nola, the brother of Padres catcher Austin Nola. Just don’t make mom choose sides.