MLB

In the second of MLB's Wild Card Games, the Chicago Cubs will face the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night for the right to move on to meet the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS.

Theo Epstein once traveled to Arizona for Thanksgiving dinner at Curt Schilling's house. No word on how many slices of pumpkin pie he devoured, but over turkey and dressing he laid the groundwork that ultimately convinced Schilling to waive his no-trade clause, come to Boston and change history.

The focus has all been on the other guy, all about what Jake Arrieta has done and how unfair it is that the Pittsburgh Pirates' 98-win season now hinges on finding a way around him in the National League Wild Card Game.

But what about Gerrit Cole?

Playoff baseball is officially underway.

The 2015 MLB postseason field is down to nine after the Houston Astros dispatched the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. After Wednesday night's National League Wild Card Game, eight squads will remain standing.

Baseball fans have been arguing the merits of various major award candidates since before the All-Star break, but with the postseason officially underway, the bodies of work are complete and the voters have submitted their ballots.

The winners won't be announced until after the World Series wraps up, but it's time now to make our final year-end award picks for each of the four majors awards.

The New York Yankees were eliminated from postseason play Tuesday after falling to the Houston Astros, 3-0, in front of their home crowd, and general manager Brian Cashman took some time afterward to reflect on a deal that nearly materialized at this summer's trade deadline. 

NEW YORK — They made it through April, and they made it through May, and as September wore down, the Houston Astros were still hanging on.

All of a sudden it was October, and the Astros were still playing. And even on a Tuesday night when Yankee Stadium finally got loud again, the young Astros were up for it.

Even in an inning and a moment guaranteed to scare, the young Astros didn't scare.

On Tuesday night, the New York Yankees embarked on their first postseason run since 2012. Surely they were hoping it would last long enough to see them through to championship No. 28.

Instead, it lasted about three hours, as the Yankees finally succumbed to an offensive slump that had been trying to kill them for the last two months.

The Houston Astros stumbled at times down the stretch of the 2015 regular season, but those struggles weren't evident Tuesday night as they downed the New York Yankees, 3-0, in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium. 

Who needs a full complement of rest heading into the MLB playoffs? Certainly not Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel.

The dominant southpaw took the mound on short rest for the first time in his career Tuesday in the do-or-die American League Wild Card Game and shut out the New York Yankees in six innings on the way to a 3-0 victory. In all, Keuchel notched seven strikeouts and only allowed three hits in those six frames, silencing a raucous crowd at Yankee Stadium.