Seattle Mariners, LA Dodgers boast 2-0 Championship Series leads

The GIST: Absolutely jaw-dropping double plays, historic extra-innings showdowns, clutch pitching…how can you not be romantic about baseball? October’s already given us plenty of magical moments — here’s where things stand with trips to the World Series on the line.

💙 Defending champ LA Dodgers silence Milwaukee Brewers, lead series 2-0: The Blue Crew stole two games on the road in Milwaukee, hanging on for Monday’s 2–1 Game 1 win before slugging their way to last night’s 5–1 Game 2 victory. That’s right, two more Ws and the Dodgers will return to the World Series for the third time in six seasons.

• Key to their success so far? Lights-out pitching. Dodgers starters Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto went eight and a complete game nine innings, respectively, keeping the Brewers’ offense at bay. See if Milwaukee packs their bats with Game 3 on deck in LA tomorrow at 6:08 p.m. ET.

🔱 Seattle Mariners two wins away from first-ever World Series appearance: From Humpy the Salmon mascot to infielder Jorge Polanco, a collection of clutch plays have the M’s up 2-0 in their American League Championship Series (ALCS) vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. Seattle’s blasted four home runs compared to typically hot-hitting Toronto’s one so far, a surefire way to win ball games.

• That said, homers might be hard to come by in tonight’s 8:08 p.m. ET Game 3 as the Jays send veteran pitcher Shane Bieber to the mound while the Mariners counter with their ace, righthander George Kirby. So seated.