MLB Playoffs

Clayton Kershaw, closer.

Hey, why not? After a division series round where bullpens mattered more than ever, why not end it all with the best pitcher of our generation coming out of the bullpen to get the final two outs?

Kershaw did it, finishing off the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals. Their matchup was the only division series to last the full five games.

Not that any of these series were easy.

It was truly all hands on deck for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5. 

Clayton Kershaw got the save on one day of rest after starting Game 4, following 2.1 strong innings from Kenley Jansen out of the bullpen. Six different pitchers took the mound for the Dodgers on Thursday as they secured a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals in a winner-take-all battle.

The Chicago Cubs have been waiting for nearly a full year to get back to the National League Championship Series.

Last year, that exercise did not go well for Joe Maddon's team, as they were swept in four games by the Mets and denied the opportunity to go to their first World Series since 1945.

The Los Angeles Dodgers staved off elimination in Game 4 of the National League Division Series with a 6-5 victory on Tuesday, setting up a decisive Game 5 with the Washington Nationals on Thursday night.

The Dodgers took Game 1 of the series by a score of 4-3, but the Nationals picked up back-to-back wins after Game 2 was pushed back due to rain.

The Division Series clash between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers is the only one from either league to go the distance. That's not much of a surprise given how evenly matched the clubs were coming into the postseason.

No matter who wins the upcoming American League Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays or Cleveland Indians will inject the World Series with fresh blood.

After winning the title in 1993, the Blue Jays went 21 seasons without a playoff berth until last year. After falling short against the Kansas City Royals in 2015, they have another chance to advance beyond the ALCS.

Cleveland, meanwhile, hasn't made it this far since 2007, when it squandered a 3-1 lead against the Boston Red Sox.

The majority of the postseason drama in the division series came from the National League this year, but the American League has two teams that are a combined 7-0 in the playoffs set on a collision course with a spot in the World Series hanging in the balance.

Three of the four spots in the league championship series are set, with only the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers left to decide who will advance.

The divisional series provided plenty of drama, between the Toronto Blue Jays' walk-off win to the Chicago Cubs' improbable comeback in Game 4. On the other hand, these two teams and the Cleveland Indians combined to lose just one game as they advanced to the next round of the playoffs.

Either the Cleveland Indians or the Toronto Blue Jays will represent the American League in the 2016 World Series after each team swept through the division series. Both sides figure to face much more resistance in the penultimate round of the MLB playoffs.

The Chicago Cubs have moved a step closer to ending its 108-year title drought, while at the same time putting an end to the San Francisco Giants' even-year magic.

The Cubs scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to win 6-5, clinching the National League Division Series win in four games. Javier Baez's RBI single scored Jason Heyward for the game-winning run, but before that Ben Zobrist had an RBI double and Willson Contreras added a two-run single as a pinch hitter.