Nelson Cruz made his Baltimore postseason debut in dramatic fashion by homering on the first pitch he saw from right-hander Max Scherzer in the first inning. That was just the start of a highlight-reel night that saw Cruz finish Game 1 of the American League Division Series with a pair of hits, two runs scored and three RBIs.

Nick Markakis lashed the fourth pitch he saw in the postseason out to center field for a single — his first postseason hit. Three batters later, he was jogging across home plate for the opening run after Nelson Cruz’s first-inning homer in Baltimore’s 12-3 win in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

Fans decked out in orange and whipping rally towels around their heads watched an Orioles team that cruised to its American League East crown make a resounding statement with a 12-3 win over the Tigers in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.

Only five clubs (in 44 attempts) have come back from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five Division Series, so Justin Verlander needs to pitch the Tigers to victory over Wei-Yin Chen and Orioles on Friday afternoon or put them in position for their “World Series or bust”-type season to come crashing down in early October.

The Orioles made history with their 12-3 victory over the Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday night in Baltimore.

Without adding any context, Friday’s Game 1 matchup between Clayton Kershaw and the Cardinals’ offense would seem to skew heavily in favor of the Dodgers. Producing sufficient run support off the game’s best pitcher seems an overwhelming task for the Cards, whose offensive struggles were masked only because of terrific pitching. But what seems a mismatch on paper may hardly be one, as the Cardinals actually have a track record of success (relative success, albeit) against the Dodgers lefty.

Clayton Kershaw hasn’t spent the past year dwelling on his loss to the Cardinals in Game 6 of last season’s National League Championship Series. He had all winter to do that, and then he turned in a season for the ages. But Kershaw is ready to get back on a postseason mound for the first time since that NLCS defeat.

When they oppose each other in Friday’s National League Division Series opener, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals and Jake Peavy of the Giants are too competitive to leave each other little notes underneath the rosin bag by the pitcher’s mound. But it’s possible to imagine them doing so.

It’s a rematch of last year’s grueling National League Championship Series. It’s a pitchers’ duel for the ages, with the two starters, Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright, a safe bet to finish in the top three, if not the top two, of this year’s NL Cy Young Award voting. It’s two legendary franchises: the Cardinals vs. the Dodgers. It’s the NL Division Series, and it begins in Dodger Stadium on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

The Nationals boast the National League’s best record, home-field advantage for the first two rounds of postseason play and a sour aftertaste from their last trip to October. The Giants own such a decorated recent postseason history that their own manager jokes such success is “in their DNA.” So when the two clubs meet in their 2014 NL Division Series, beginning with Game 1 on Friday at 3:07 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 at Nationals Park, the only certainty is that both of them have a chance.

The 2014 Major League Baseball postseason is about to get underway, and here is MLB.com’s guide to popular interactive options through the 110th World Series.

A’s general manager Billy Beane is standing behind both of his July blockbuster trades, particularly the one that gave him 12 starts from Jon Lester. “Simply put, if we don’t have Jon Lester, I don’t think we make the playoffs,” he said.

Wednesday night’s 8-0 loss to the Giants was a rough way for the Pirates to end their season, but they didn’t lose sight of the successes they had together along the way in 2014, when they finished second to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central for the second consecutive year.

After two days of plots, subplots and plotting, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford boiled the National League Wild Card Game down to a one-act drama. He took Edinson Volquez out of PNC Park, and took that notorious PNC Park crowd out of the game. Crawford’s fourth-inning grand slam Wednesday night also took the Pirates out of the 2014 postseason, dooming them to an 8-0 loss on Madison Bumgarner’s four-hit masterpiece.

Madison Bumgarner and the Giants are moving on in hopes of adding a third World Series title in five years. But that will have to wait, because Thursday is next, and it’s all about the American League, as both Division Series begin. They’ll command our attention on both coasts, from Baltimore all the way out to Anaheim.

While some of the record PNC Park crowd scattered over the Allegheny River in an effort to beat traffic, the ones who remained during the ninth inning of the Pirates’ 8-0 season-ending loss to the Giants on Wednesday night realized and appreciated what was happening. Russell Martin — the 31-year-old Bucs catcher who has had a career season and turned into a beloved figure — led off the final half inning of the National League Wild Card Game to a chant of “Re-sign Russ!”

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford became the first shortstop to hit a postseason grand slam as he crushed an Edinson Volquez pitch Wednesday night at PNC Park in the National League Wild Card Game. The slam propelled the Giants to a resounding 8-0 victory, setting up an NL Division Series meeting with the Nationals.