The Minnesota Twins finally snap their 18-game playoff losing streak

The GIST: And they’re off! Nearly eight straight hours of meaningful baseball later, the Wild Card (WC) round could be wrapped as soon as tonight, pending today’s best-of-three Game 2s. Reload on those cracker jacks and settle in for another big day ahead.

Texas Rangers pitching stymies Tampa Bay Rays: Lifted by seven shutout innings from ace Jordan Montgomery (and a playoff franchise record four Tampa Bay errors), the Rangers took the series lead with yesterday’s 4–0 road win. Now in danger of a second straight stunning WC ouster, the Rays will need to bring the sting to avoid elimination at 3:08 p.m. ET.

Minnesota Twins break 18-game playoff losing streak: Royce Lewis, remember the name. The shortstop homered not once, but twice in yesterday’s 3–1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, snapping a Twins’ playoff dub drought that dated back to 2004.

• Now Minny is just one win away from their first playoff series victory since 2002, with their ace Sonny Gray set to take the mound at 4:38 p.m. ET.

Arizona Diamondbacks homer thrice to top Milwaukee Brewers: Three different DBacks went yard in their 6–3 come-from-behind win, including rookie sensation, outfielder Corbin Carroll. Plus, Arizona didn’t even have their best pitcher out there — that would be Zac Gallen, who gets the ball with a chance to seal the upset at 7:08 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia Phillies silence the Miami Marlins’ bats: The Phils censored Miami’s offense in a 4–1 victory, helmed by starting pitcher Zack Wheeler’s eight strikeouts in nearly seven innings of work. With the Red October crowd a rockin’, Kim Ng’s squad will have to swim against the current at 8:08 p.m. ET if they want to extend this to Game 3.