On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was

The GIST: Yesterday marked just the second time in baseball’s long history with three winner-take-all games on the same day. Take a deep breath and steady that heart rate as we recap what went down on the diamond in the best-of-three Wild Card round.

🍎 NY Yankees outduel archrival Boston Red Sox: The Yanks won last night’s battle of the rookie pitchers, with 24-year-old Cam Schlittler striking out 12 Sox in a 4–0 win. Boston’s own young hurler, 23-year-old Connelly Early, started off strong, but the Bronx Bombers got to him in the fourth inning and never looked back. Play that song.

🐯 Detroit Tigers break out the bats, eliminate Cleveland Guardians: The resilient Guards put up one last fight and forced Game 3, but they couldn’t overcome the Tigers’ four-run seventh inning, falling 6–3 yesterday. What a chapter in this storied divisional rivalry.

🐻 Chicago Cubs shut the door, oust San Diego Padres: The W is flying high after the Chicago pitching staff stymied San Diego in yesterday’s 3–1 victory. Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong went three-for-four at the plate with an RBI, helping the Cubbies secure their first postseason series victory since 2017.

💙 Reigning champ LA Dodgers sweep Cincinnati Reds: The only Wild Card series that didn’t go the distance, the explosive LA offense put up 18 runs in two games, making quick work of the Reds to reach their 13th consecutive Divisional Series. Speaking of…

The GIST: But wait, there’s more baseball. With the best-of-three Wild Card done and dusted, it’s on to the best-of-five Divisional Series, with four teams each remaining from the American League (AL) and National League (NL).

• Stock up on glizzies, because tomorrow brings yet another quadruple-header of hanging-on-every-pitch play. Stressed, but excited.

🐻🍺 No. 4 Cubs and No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers set for NL Central bout — 2:08 p.m. ET: Believe it or not, tomorrow marks the first postseason meeting between these divisional foes. Milwaukee posted the best record in MLB this year, but only managed to go 6-7 against Chicago. Even more dramatic? Cubs manager Craig Counsell controversially left the Brewers two offseasons ago.

🐦 AL No. 4 seed NY Yankees to face No. 1 Toronto Blue Jays — 4:08 p.m. ET: These teams battled for the AL East title until the final day of the regular season, and now they’ll meet again with Toronto well-rested and flying high after going 8-5 against NY this year. That said, the Yanks’ offense is ready to erupt, with key players finding their groove in the Wild Card. This is going to be good.

💙🔔 NL No. 3 Dodgers meet No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies in offensive clash — 6:38 p.m. ET: Two of the most powerful and star-studded teams in baseball will go head-to-head, but only one World Series favorite can advance. The Phils won four of their six regular-season contests, including one against Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, who’ll take the mound tonight. So seated.

🔱 AL No. 6 Tigers tasked with silencing No. 2 Seattle Mariners — 8:38 p.m. ET: From one buzzsaw to another, Detroit next faces yet another gritty squad in the well-rested, home run–hitting Mariners. Seattle slugger Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh up against a Tigers defense anchored by Tigers ace Tarik Skubal? Say less.

Is track & field star Tara Davis-Woodhall ready for an even bigger spotlight? She can definitely go the distance — she’s the reigning long jump world champ after all. But next week, she’ll do something she’s never done before: compete in the middle of Times Square for the qualifying round at Athlos NYC, the world’s first women-only track meet.

• The long jump is one of six thrilling events at Athlos NYC, the trailblazing competition featuring track’s brightest stars like Davis-Woodhall, as well as sprinters Brittany Brown and Anavia Battle.

If you’re a women’s sports supporter, Athlos NYC is a must-watch, airing on October 10th on ION. ION is your go-to destination for watching women’s sports, including Athlos NYC, the NWSL, and the WNBA. Click here to find ION in your area so you don’t miss out.

The GIST: Feel that? It’s the temps emanating from this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix (GP). Not only has Sunday’s 8 a.m. ET race already been given a heat hazard declaration, but the race for the World Drivers’ Championship (WDC) is also scorching hot, especially with just seven GPs to go.

🏆 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has entered the WDC chat: It’s been a two-horse race for most of the season, but the four-time world champ dominated F1’s last two stops, winning in both Italy and Azerbaijan. Verstappen’s now just 69 points (aka less than three race wins) behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and 44 points behind Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris.

• What’s more, both McLaren drivers have aided in Verstappen’s title resurgence: Piastri crashed out of the race in Azerbaijan, while Norris managed just six points after a disappointing seventh-place finish.

🇸🇬 The Singapore GP is notoriously tricky: There’s a myriad of reasons why this night race poses a unique challenge for drivers. An unforgiving and twisting street circuit, Singapore’s also the longest, hottest race on the calendar. And it’s been a thorn in Verstappen’s side — despite winning 67 career races on 26 different tracks, he’s never finished on the podium in Singapore.

⛳ LPGA: LOTTE Championship — Ongoing through tomorrow — Golf Channel

• Two rounds down, two to go. Youmin Hwang is leading the way at the Hoakalei Country Club just outside of Honolulu, but the stacked field is hot on her tail. Now the real question is: Will the LPGA Tour crown their 26th consecutive different tourney winner tomorrow?

⚽ NWSL: Racing Louisville vs. North Carolina Courage — Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET — ION

• The Courage sit on the outside looking in at the eight-team playoff picture, which is not where you want to be with just four weeks of regular season play to go. A win over Louisville would help their postseason chances, but that’s easier said than done: Racing is having their best campaign ever, recording a franchise-record eighth win last week.

🎓🏈 NCAA football: No. 3 Miami vs. No. 18 Florida State — Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET — ABC

• Florida State cratered in the AP Top 25 Poll, falling from No. 8 to No. 18 with last week’s overtime loss to then-unranked Virginia. But they still have an elite roster and a rowdy home crowd on their side as they battle the Canes for the title of the ultimate Florida Man.

🏈 NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Seattle Seahawks — Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET — CBS

• The San Francisco 49ers kicked off the Week 5 fun with last night’s 26–23 overtime win over the LA Rams, giving way to even more spicy matchups ahead. The 3-1 Hawks will be celebrating 50 years of soaring, while the also 3-1 Bucs are dealing with a slew of injuries.