Albert Pujols is preparing for the Angels’ must-win Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Sunday in Kansas City, where he rose to baseball stardom in a brief but legendary tenure at nearby Maple Woods Community College 15 years ago.

O’s manager Buck Showalter’s in-game management, particularly his bullpen usage, has his team up 2-0 on the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series, just one win from securing its first trip to the AL Championship Series since 1997. Game 3 is on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, TBS).

Bud Norris will start Sunday’s Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Tigers, a decision that manager Buck Showalter said was made after Friday’s win, and one that left reporters scratching their heads.

The 11th-inning home runs by Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer to beat the Angels on back-to-back nights seemed symbolic of the Royals’ re-entry into the winning world of baseball.

Here are the starting lineups for today’s National League Division Series Game 2 between the Giants and Nationals at Nationals Park.

J.D. Martinez has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season. But credit for his transformation from a waiver-wire pickup to one of the keys to Detroit’s lineup must be divided among several people.

The Royals have grabbed a 2-0 lead on the AL’s top-seeded Angels in the AL Division Series, and they haven’t even used ace James Shields yet. He gets the ball Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET (watch on TBS) in Game 3 of one of the more unpredictable AL Division Series in recent memory.

Even if Game 2 against the Royals on Friday night felt like a must-win situation, it wasn’t one. But, man, it sure did feel like one for the Angels.

This time it was Eric Hosmer whose home run provided the Royals a heavenly victory over the Angels, as his two-run blast in the 11th inning carried Kansas City to a 4-1 decision on Friday night, shocking a full house at Angel Stadium.

He may have looked cool while collecting the first two postseason saves of his career in the American League Division Series against the Angels, but the last few days in the life of Greg Holland have been quite an emotional roller coaster.

After missing almost all of August with a stress fracture, Eric Hosmer had a strong September and has carried that success into the playoffs.

The Royals’ Yordano Ventura and the Angels’ Matt Shoemaker were gone when Eric Hosmer unloaded his two-run blast in Kansas City’s 4-1 win in Game 2 of the ALDS on Friday, but the rookie right-handers managed to deliver the gripping duel.

Royals manager Ned Yost said it is a defensive maneuver he has been making the past two months. But putting Jarrod Dyson in center field in the eighth inning on Friday night has not paid off as big as it did in Kansas City’s 4-1 victory over the Angels.

Matt Carpenter embodies what the St. Louis Cardinals are all about. He’s an old-school ballplayer. He’s not one of those guys that catches your attention when he walks in the room. By the time he leaves, however, he’s made his presence felt. And did he ever make his presence felt with a go-ahead three-run double against Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday night.

An epic drama in four acts played out across the country and around the clock Friday, steering the plot of this 2014 postseason through another wild series of twists and turns. And it all happened on one glorious day — or technically two with Friday’s action lasting into Saturday for most of the country.

Dodgers center fielder Yasiel Puig was hit on the shoulder by a pitch from Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright to open a two-run Los Angeles third inning during Friday’s Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium, causing both benches and bullpens to empty.

Anything can happen in a baseball game, especially in October. The Cardinals proved as much during the seventh inning Friday at Dodger Stadium, stunning Los Angeles in Game 1 of the NL Division Series and taking down Clayton Kershaw in the process.