Former A’s and Giants left-hander Barry Zito, a three-time All-Star and the 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner, announced his retirement on Monday.

The young Cubs may be heading home down 2-0 in the National League Championship Series, but they know the momentum can turn quickly at Wrigley Field.

The Blue Jays return home badly needing a win to overcome a 2-0 ALCS deficit to Kansas City, but they have something in their favor. Toronto pitchers were outstanding at home this year, in large part due to a superior ability to turn batted balls into outs.

Jake Arrieta, an ace with everything but a superhero nickname, insists he hasn’t “gotten to the end of my leash yet.” That’s music to the Cubs’ ears, as he opposes Noah Syndergaard in Game 2 tonight (air time 7:30 p.m. ET, game time 8 p.m. on TBS).

When Ben Zobrist’s seemingly harmless fly ball somehow fell in to start the seventh inning on Saturday, center fielder Lorenzo Cain thought, “We’ve got a shot.” By the end of the inning, the most impressive start of David Price’s postseason career had quickly morphed into the Royals’ latest triumph, a 6-3 victory in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber has slugged his way into Chicago’s record books. Schwarber ended Mets right-hander Matt Harvey’s otherwise terrific outing in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series by belting a solo home run with two outs in the eighth inning. It cut the Cubs’ deficit to 4-2, and was otherwise notable on a number of fronts:

Scattered at first, the chants of Matt Harvey’s name — a name dragged through the mud in recent weeks — grew irrepressible by game’s end. Harvey had just delivered the most impactful 7 2/3 innings of his career in the Mets’ 4-2 NLCS Game 1 win over the Cubs.

After hearing exactly what he needed to hear from right-hander Noah Syndergaard on Saturday, Mets manager Terry Collins moved forward with Plan A, which includes sending the rookie out as the team’s Game 2 starter in Sunday’s National League Championship Series matchup against the Cubs.

Jon Lester has had a successful first season with the Cubs, but high-intensity games haven’t gone his way as Chicago dropped Game 1 of the NLCS, 4-2, to the Mets on Saturday night at Citi Field. But the lefty is already mentally circling a potential Game 5 to leave his mark this postseason.

It speaks to Jake Arrieta’s recent greatness that Cubs manager Joe Maddon took such note of two pitches during Arrieta’s National League Division Series start against St. Louis. They were the sort of mistakes that dot nearly every pitching performance in Major League Baseball, and they made Maddon wonder whether Arrieta’s personal-record innings total might finally be producing an effect.

Miguel Montero has been on the receiving end of throws from the outfield thousands of times. And he knew right away that this one was going to be trouble, during the Cubs’ 4-2 loss to the Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday night.

With both League Championship Series in action on Saturday, there was plenty of fodder for Statcast™. Between the Royals’ win over the Blue Jays in Game 2 at Kauffman Stadium and the Mets’ series-opening victory over the Cubs at Citi Field, several plays stood out. Here’s a look at some of the best from Saturday.

After hitting what might have been the most important home run of his career during the sixth inning of Saturday night’s 4-2 win over the Cubs, Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud didn’t even see it bounce off the big apple in dead-center field. The homer gave the Mets and Matt Harvey a 3-1 lead in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series and sent them on their way to a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series.

The blueprint for how the Mets could beat the Cubs was on display at Citi Field on Saturday night. There it was, the path through the National League Championship Series, leading all the way to the World Series, in public view for all to see. The main component is getting a start dominant enough so that the Cubs’ power hitters cannot take over the game.

In the first National League Championship Series game at Citi Field, the Mets earned a 4-2 win over the Cubs on Saturday night. They hold a 1-0 series edge heading into Sunday’s Game 2. Here are some notable facts and figures from the opener in Queens.

If this is, by chance, Daniel Murphy’s farewell to the Flushing faithful, he’s poised to finish with a flourish. Murphy, whose go-ahead home run in Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Dodgers on Thursday propelled the Mets into the NL Championship Series, picked up right where he left off on Saturday, tattooing an 87-mph cutter from Cubs starter Jon Lester into the right-field seats to give the Mets a first-inning lead in Game 1.

October grew serious Saturday on a blustery night at Citi Field. It was amid those conditions that Matt Harvey reclaimed a sold-out crowd’s adoration, pitching into the eighth inning of the Mets’ 4-2 National League Championship Series Game 1 win over the Cubs.