Here are the top GIFs of Game 1 of the ALCS, courtesy of @MLBGIFs.

The Yordano Ventura who will return to the mound on Saturday is very much the same right-hander seen in last year’s ALCS, though a bit more grown-up.

In the final days of the regular season, Royals manager Ned Yost had a problem. And he liked it. It’s become a headache for Kansas City’s opposition in the postseason, most recently in the Royals’ 5-0 win against the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Friday night.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez emerged from the trainer’s room long after most of his teammates had slipped away on Friday night, and he was still unshowered more than an hour after a 5-0 shutout of the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on a chilly evening at Kauffman Stadium.

Troy Tulowitzki stood at his locker, his back to the media horde forming a semicircle behind him. The Blue Jays shortstop’s left shoulder blade was still red from his postgame treatment, which is critical right now in helping him remain on the field.

Considering the magnitude of the moment and the opponent — the high-powered Blue Jays — Edinson Volquez tossed the game of his life Friday night in Game 1 of the ALCS. He silenced Toronto on two singles through six shutout innings in a 5-0 win.

Here’s a closer look at Alex Rios’ running catch, Edinson Volquez’s performance and Salvador Perez’s solo home run, courtesy of Statcast™.

On the surface, it would seem that Daniel Murphy had the same solid batting season he always does. But with a deeper dive into the numbers, you can see that he’s not the same hitter at all.

Much has been made of how the Blue Jays have handled ace David Price since the final week of the regular season. Much has also been made of the left-hander’s well-documented struggles as a starter under the bright lights on the October stage.

With the Kauffman Stadium crowd chanting his name, right-hander Edinson Volquez went out and pitched the game of his life, stifling the Blue Jays through six shutout innings as the Royals stormed to a 5-0 victory in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Friday night.

Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion was forced to leave Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Friday night in the eighth inning because of a ligament sprain in his left middle finger.

Your best on-base guys are supposed to hit at the very top. It’s Lineup Construction 101, a baseball axiom few, if any, would ever argue. And yet the Royals, true to their nature, continually defy it. Somehow, some way, they’re basically unbeatable with Alcides Escobar batting leadoff, even though his career on-base percentage is .298.

Fans of two franchises that entered 2015 coming off a combined 11 consecutive losing seasons — six for the Mets, five for the Cubs — will get to cheer their teams on in the National League Championship Series, starting tonight at Citi Field when Jon Lester and Matt Harvey square off in Game 1.

Going into the season, this was a matchup a lot of us would have felt comfortable forecasting for the National League Championship Series — the 2016 National League Championship Series. For both the Cubs and Mets to get to this stage in 2015, meeting up tonight for Game 1 at Citi Field (7:30 p.m. ET, TBS), certainly qualifies as a surprise in the big picture.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said on Friday he hopes Dodgers management brings back manager Don Mattingly and he hopes Zack Greinke, who has an opt-out in his contract, returns.

The Royals struck first in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Blue Jays with a two-run third inning that included an RBI single from Lorenzo Cain, who extended his postseason hitting streak to 10 games.

It’s been nine years since the Mets’ most recent National League Championship Series, and 12 since Chicago last stepped foot in the series that decides the NL pennant. Which is why Saturday’s Game 1 start arrives packed with anticipation — as two franchises with starving fan bases square off in a series that should feature a significant clash of styles.