It has been another busy day in the MLB playoffs, with all four division series in action: two series openers in the National League and two Game 2s in the American League.

Here are the stars, turning points and takeaways from each of Tuesday's games as they conclude.

Key links: Ranking the remaining teams | Guide to bubble ballparks | Schedule, bracket

Jump to: HOU-OAK | MIA-ATL | NYY-TB | SD-LAD

Houston Astros 5, Oakland A's 2

What it means: Here's a statement that's sure to enrage, oh, 99% of America: The Astros are one win from the American League Championship Series. Here's something that should scare what remains of the postseason field: The Astros' offense looks locked in, and in Framber Valdez, who provided seven innings of two-run ball on another homer-happy afternoon at Dodger Stadium, the Astros have what appears to be the equivalent of a top-of-the-rotation starter.

George Springer homered twice and has six hits in nine at-bats in this series, igniting an offense that is more closely resembling recent history. But it's the Astros' pitching that has been particularly impressive. One of the major keys to this series for the A's is to make Dusty Baker deploy relievers not named Ryan Pressly as often as possible. But in Game 1, Blake Taylor, Enoli Paredes and Cristian Javier stepped up. In Game 2, Valdez made the approach irrelevant.

The A's are 1-for-24 in the sixth inning or later in this series. -- Alden Gonzalez

Next up: Game 3, 3:35 p.m. ET Wednesday

Atlanta Braves 9, Miami Marlins 5

What it means: It was an action-packed Game 1 between the Braves and Marlins, but Atlanta rolled six runs in the seventh inning to grab the series opener. Ronald Acuna Jr. homered to lead off the bottom of the first, then was hit by a Sandy Alcantara pitch in his next at-bat to heat things up in the early innings. Remember, there is history between the Marlins and Acuna.

The Marlins put up four runs on Atlanta ace Max Fried, but things unraveled after the teams got into their respective bullpens. The Braves hold a massive advantage in that area and have a much more dynamic offensive attack. The margin is thin in this series for the Marlins, but they've been as resilient as a team can be. That will be put to the test in Game 2, when Pablo Lopez will try to even things for Miami against Atlanta's Ian Anderson.

For the Braves, that they got a subpar outing from Fried and still won a playoff game going away tells you all you need to know about how well-rounded this Atlanta squad is. -- Bradford Doolittle

Next up: Game 2, 2:08 p.m. ET Wednesday

Tampa Bay Rays 7, New York Yankees 5

What it means: The game that started with a bait-and-switch ended with a bang.

The Rays evened the American League Division Series at a game apiece by giving the Yankees a big dose of their own home run medicine. Homers by Randy Arozarena, Mike Zunino and Manuel Margot and another solo shot by Austin Meadows, who the Rays thought might be finished for the season after he suffered an oblique strain in mid-September, wrapped the 7-5 win. Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 of the 18 Yankees fanned by the Rays' pitching staff, a new MLB postseason record for a nine-inning game. Glasnow's Achilles' heel was slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who had two of the three hits given up by the hard-throwing righty, both of them home runs, including a 118.3 mph blast in the fourth. Stanton became the first player to hit five home runs and record 10 RBIs in a four-game span in one postseason.

The Yankees sent rookie right-hander Deivi García to the mound to start Tuesday night's game but allowed him to pitch only one inning in what appeared to be a strategy to control the Rays' lineup composition. That backfired when New York brought in J.A. Happ in the second inning, and the veteran lefty gave up four runs on five hits (two home runs) over 2 2/3 innings.

The Yankees will stay away from gimmicks and send playoff ace Masahiro Tanaka to take on the AL East champions in Game 3. Tanaka, who had a 1.76 postseason ERA before his weather-tainted start in Cleveland, is the Yankees' only hope of avoiding going down 2-1 in a no-days-off, best-of-five series against one of the deepest pitching staffs in the majors. -- Marly Rivera

Next up: Game 3, 7:10 p.m. ET Wednesday

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, San Diego Padres 1

What it means: On the 115th pitch they saw, the Dodgers finally registered a hit. For 5 1/3 innings, a panoply of Padres pitchers were crafting what might have been the ugliest no-hitter of all time -- a walk-fattened, reliever-stuffed, caterpillar crawl to the end. Mookie Betts ended it with a double, Justin Turner, Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger followed with hits of their own, and just like that, the Dodgers were on their way to a 5-1 win and a 1-0 NLDS lead. It happens quickly with them, and now that Mike Clevinger is shelved after he couldn't make it to 25 pitches in his Game 1 start, San Diego faces a scary reality: Without either of their best starters, with a bullpen that got taxed heavily in the first game and with games scheduled the next four days, the Padres need to beat the best team in baseball three times before it beats them twice. -- Jeff Passan

Next up: Game 2, 9:08 p.m. ET Wednesday

The NHL is targeting a Jan. 1 start date for next season, commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday.

In an interview with NHL Network, Bettman reiterated that the league hopes to play a full 82-game season and have fans in arenas. Bettman said planning discussions with the NHL Players' Association will begin shortly after the free-agency period, which begins Friday.

When the NHL and NHLPA revealed their return-to-play initiatives in July, they targeted Dec. 1 to begin next season, though that date was fluid. The NHL completed its 2019-20 season last month, when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Dallas Stars in the Edmonton, Alberta, bubble.

The NHL draft is being held virtually Tuesday and Wednesday.

Among the items the NHL and NHLPA must discuss for next season are the format and the schedule, as well as health and safety initiatives. Although the players agreed that bubbles were necessary to complete the 2020 postseason -- a two-month tournament that took place in Edmonton and Toronto -- their preference is to avoid them for next season.

The bubble postseason was a success from a health and safety perspective. The NHL conducted daily COVID-19 testing for all players and staffers for two months, and it reported zero confirmed cases. Players, however, were less than pleased with the amenities and were frustrated that their family members were largely unable to join them later in the tournament, counter to what was originally promised.

The NHL is a gate-driven league, and it would take a significant financial hit if fans were not allowed in buildings next season.

"If there's an option to consider, believe me, we're considering it," Bettman said in September. "It's conceivable that we start without fans, that we move to socially distant fans at some point, and by some point in time, maybe our buildings are open."

The NHL will face a serious roadblock if the Canada-United States border does not open for nonessential business. Sources told ESPN that the league is considering, among many other options, an all-Canadian division of teams if the border remains closed.

Teams are allowed to open their facilities for offseason training on Oct. 15. The NHL and NHLPA agreed on a 19-page document of training protocols, which include that a maximum of 12 players can be on the ice at one time and that participants must be tested at least twice weekly for COVID-19. Any player who has had COVID-19 also must undergo a cardiac screening before participation.

Center Quinton Byfield of the Sudbury Wolves was taken No. 2 overall by the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night, making him the highest-drafted Black player in NHL history.

"Quinton is an exceptional young man and talented player with a very bright future," Kings general manager Rob Blake said. "We're proud to be adding him to our organization and look forward to the next stages of his development and a promising career in L.A."

Byfield, 18, is a native of Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. His father, Clinton, is originally from Jamaica.

"Being on top for something is always cool and being the top pick among players of color would definitely be something really special to me," Byfield told NHL.com earlier this year. "I think the game is changing, and the NHL is becoming more diverse. Definitely that would get kids motivated to start playing hockey, knowing that they can play and that hockey is for everyone."

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane (2009, Atlanta Thrashers) and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones (2103, Nashville Predators) shared the previous record for highest-drafted Black player in the NHL, at No. 4.

After Byfield was selected, Kane tweeted, "Congratulations to @byfield55 on his 2nd Overall selection and becoming the highest drafted black player in history."

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound center has posted 143 points and a plus-38 rating in 109 regular-season games in his two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. He was the No. 2-ranked North American skater behind Alexis Lafreniere, who was selected first overall by the New York Rangers.

With three first-round selections on their to-do list, the Ottawa Senators were already a team to watch heading into Tuesday's NHL draft.

They leapt even further into spotlight, right off the bat, by introducing "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek to announce their first choice.

The draft, similar to the NFL, is being held at team sites with league executives stationed at the NHL Network in New Jersey. From his television setup there, commissioner Gary Bettman welcomed Trebek, a graduate of the University of Ottawa, into the broadcast as a "special guest."

Trebek, standing at his traditional "Jeopardy!" dais, took it from there and announced "The NHL" as the topic. He eventually selected German center Tim Stutzle with the third overall pick, as the "Jeopardy!" theme music played in the background.

Who is Tim Stützle? #NHLDraft #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/KfYKyEcqMj

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 6, 2020

It was an unexpected moment for a non-descript franchise that traditionally doesn't make many headlines. But Trebek, 80, currently battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer and a recipient of the Order of Canada, performed a key moment for the team with his traditional, stoic delivery that "Jeopardy" viewers have been familiar with since 1984.

At No. 5, the Senators selected Jake Sanderson, the first American player to be drafted this year. A defenseman, from the University of North Dakota, he is the son of former NHL forward Geoff Sanderson. The second pick was announced by Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion, who thanked Trebek for the first selection.

Ottawa also held the rights to the No. 28 pick. In a rare draft oddity, the Senators joined the New Jersey Devils as two franchises with three first-round picks on the same night. New Jersey opened their run, at No. 7, selecting Swedish forward Alexander Holtz, and chose Canadian center Dawson Mercer at No. 18, followed by Russian defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin at No. 20.

Also in the first round, the Winnipeg Jets selected No. 10 overall. A key number in their franchise history -- 10 was the number worn Hall of Fame forward Dale Hawerchuk, who died in August after battling stomach cancer -- the Jets introduced Hawerchuk's wife, Crystal, to make the pick.

After thanking the hockey community for its well wishes to the family, Hawerchuk announced the Jets' choice of Canadian forward Cole Perfetti.

The draft, originally scheduled to be held in Montreal, began with the New York Rangers selecting the consensus No. 1 prospect, Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere.

Lafreniere, from suburban Montreal, was the first Canadian to go No. 1 since Connor McDavid was chosen by Edmonton in 2015.

Bettman began the broadcast with an announcement that the league is planning to begin next season on Jan. 1, 2021.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – The October move of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship means less daylight and more improvising.

Kerry Haigh, the chief championships officer for the PGA, said on Tuesday at Aronimink Golf Club that players will be going out as early as possible on Thursday and Friday, and finishing up as late as will be allowed.

"We do have 132 players in the field, which we are proud of. But having said that, we're actually going to tee off, I believe, it's three minutes after sunrise on Thursday and Friday, and we will be finishing well after sunset," Haigh said. "The hope is to finish, but we would not be surprised if we were not able to finish due to the challenges and the difficulty of the golf course and the amount of daylight. But we felt it extremely important to provide the playing opportunity for all the best players to just feel what is a true major championship."

Carryovers are nothing unusual, but this weekend's schedule is unique.

The event was originally slated for June, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was shifted to this week. Not only are there daylight concerns, but showcasing a major championship on network television also means competing against other sports, in this case, NASCAR on NBC.

Saturday's third-round coverage is scheduled to conclude at 3 p.m. ET, with the final round slated to end at 2 p.m. ET. If all goes well, the third round will play out normally, with the leaders going out last. That, however, won't be the case on Sunday.

In order for fans to see the contenders compete, the leading threesome would go out in the final round roughly 45 minutes ahead of the final tee time.

"If you have the opportunity to see a three-hour telecast and see the leaders all through that three hours, to me as a spectator, that is a lot more appealing than watching everyone but the leaders tee off and you never get to the leaders to see a shot,'' Haigh said.

But as Haigh mentioned, getting everyone out (7:10 a.m. first tee time) and in (sunset around 6:30 p.m.) will be a challenge over the first two days. Should Round 2 spill over into Saturday, provisions will have to be made.

"In some ways, we could be making history this week because we will have the leaders not teeing off at the end of the wave on Sunday. And if we don't finish on Friday, they will not be teeing off last on Saturday, either," Haigh said.

"And although it's a little different and out of the box, we as partners with the LPGA and KPMG are prepared to make those changes for what we think will be a greater and a better championship for everyone to observe."

The New York Rangers selected left wing Alexis Lafreniere of the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic with the first pick in the 2020 NHL draft on Tuesday. The Rangers had never previously selected with the first overall pick in the entry draft era, which began in 1979.

Lafreniere, who will turn 19 on Sunday, was the consensus top prospect in this draft class after putting together a remarkable and decorated season between his efforts with Rimouski in a shortened season and for Team Canada at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. He led the QMJHL in scoring with 112 points in just 52 games, earning league MVP honors for the second straight season. His 2.15 points per game average was the highest across Canada's top three junior leagues since Connor McDavid had 2.50 in his final season in the OHL in 2014-15.

#LafreNYR pic.twitter.com/j5QbPBdRSO

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 6, 2020

Additionally, Lafreniere was named the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year for the second straight season, joining Sidney Crosby as the only other player to win that award twice. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound winger overcame a mid-tournament injury to lead Canada to the gold medal at the World Junior Championship, scoring 10 points in just five games on the way to earning MVP honors.

A forward with an uncommon combination of elite skill and physicality, Lafreniere has been among the most prized prospects of the 2001 birth year for some time. He was the QMJHL's rookie of the year in his first season in 2017-18, and he will finish his career in Quebec's top junior circuit with 297 points in 173 games.

Lafreniere represents one of the final pieces to the rebuild puzzle for the Rangers, who have assembled one of the strongest prospect pools in the NHL over the past three seasons. He will join a roster that includes a Hart Trophy finalist in Artemi Panarin, one of the most promising goalies in the game in Igor Shesterkin and last year's No. 2 overall pick on the opposite wing, Kaapo Kakko.

The Rangers earned the top pick in the draft after the Carolina Hurricanes swept them out of the qualification round of the NHL's unique postseason setup. New York was among eight eliminated teams with a 12.5% chance to earn the No. 1 overall pick.

At No. 2, the Los Angeles Kings selected center Quinton Byfield of the Ontario Hockey League. And at No. 3, the Ottawa Senators chose forward Tim Stutzle of Germany.

Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart added to her extensive trophy collection Tuesday with her second WNBA title and WNBA Finals MVP award -- all by age 26, which she turned in August.

Stewart had 26 points and four rebounds Tuesday as the No. 2-seeded Storm completed a sweep of the No. 1-seeded Las Vegas Aces with a 92-59 victory at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The 33-point margin of victory was the largest in WNBA Finals history.

Stewart was the unanimous choice for MVP. Only four other players besides Stewart have won two Finals MVP awards: Houston's Cynthia Cooper, Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie, Phoenix's Diana Taurasi and Minnesota's Sylvia Fowles.

Stewart, who shot 10-of-14 from the floor Tuesday, had her sixth consecutive WNBA Finals game with at least 20 points. That is the longest such streak in history, passing Cynthia Cooper, who had five in a row for Houston between 1997-99, and Angel McCoughtry, who had five straight for Atlanta from 2010 to 2011.

The 6-foot-4 forward Stewart averaged 19.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in the regular season. In the postseason, those numbers were 25.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists.

Stewart was the No. 1 draft pick out of UConn in 2016 after winning four consecutive NCAA titles for the Huskies. She was Rookie of the Year that WNBA season, and she was a league champion in 2018, her third year.

A year ago, though, Stewart was watching the WNBA Finals while rehabbing an Achilles tendon injury she sustained in April 2019 while playing overseas. It was the first serious injury of her career, which at that point included not just her success in college and the WNBA, but also gold medals in the 2016 Olympics and 2018 FIBA Women's World Cup.

Stewart first returned to action in late January 2020 in an exhibition with the U.S. national team. Then she went back overseas to play until the COVID-19 pandemic cut short her European season. Stewart was ready to go for the 2020 WNBA season. Earlier this year, she said she would give herself an A-minus or B-plus for this season, but then acknowledged she was being a tough grader.

Seattle joined Houston, a now-defunct franchise, and Minnesota in winning its fourth title, tying for the most in the history of the WNBA, which began in 1997. The Comets' titles came at the league's start, from 1997-2000, while Minnesota won in 2011, '13, '15 and '17. The Storm's championships came in 2004, 2010 and 2018; point guard Sue Bird has started on all of those teams.

This year, the 24th WNBA campaign had a regular season shortened to 22 games because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Storm finished 18-4, as did Las Vegas. But the Aces won both regular-season games -- Bird didn't play in either game and Stewart only played in one -- and that gave Las Vegas the top seed. Aces forward A'ja Wilson won the league's regular-season MVP award, with Stewart coming in second.

But by the postseason, the Storm ruled. They swept Minnesota in the semifinals with only one close win: The opener, 88-86, on a last-second putback by Alysha Clark. The Storm won their other five playoff games by double-digits.

"The city of Seattle has always had our back," Stewart said after Tuesday's win. "We had the utmost support from everybody, and we're bringing another [title] back.

"I think the greatest challenge was just all the adversity. Everybody bought in. We're a chill team, and we kind of rolled with the punches and continued to do what we do. Now, we're the champs."

Former New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry has agreed to a deal to become associate coach with the Sacramento Kings under Luke Walton, a source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Gentry will join the Kings less than two months after he was dismissed following a five-season run leading the Pelicans. His New Orleans teams went 175-225 but were often beset by injuries.

Gentry's 175 victories with the Pelicans are the second most in Hornets/Pelicans franchise history, trailing the total of Byron Scott. Gentry left as the only coach in franchise history with a winning record (5-4) in the playoffs.

He'll join a Kings team coming off a 21-31 season in Walton's first year with the team.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden quoted new Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers in a speech Tuesday in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

In calling for national unity, the former vice president referenced Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot in the back by a white police officer on Aug. 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rivers, who was coaching the LA Clippers in the NBA bubble when the shooting occurred, spoke emotionally about the incident and the current state of racial affairs in the country after a Clips win on Aug. 24.

His words were recalled Tuesday by Biden: "Doc Rivers, the basketball coach, choking back tears when he said, 'We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We've been hung. It's amazing how we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.'

"I think about that. I think about what it takes for a Black person to love America. That is a deep love for this country that has for far too long never been recognized."

Rivers was introduced as the Sixers' new coach on Monday. He was fired by the Clippers last week after seven seasons.

If the Miami Marlins are the Cinderellas of this baseball postseason, they maybe should have considered how the fairy tale would have turned out had the heroine taken off her glass slippers and hurled them at her stepsisters.

Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud and starting pitcher Max Fried might not have been reading fairy tales on Tuesday, but they both credited yet another incident in which a Marlins pitcher plunked Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. with helping the National League East champions overcome a slow start, as Atlanta came from behind to beat Miami 9-5 in Game 1 of their NL Division Series.

"I think it woke us up," d'Arnaud said. "We obviously know what happened earlier in the year and even years prior with Ronnie. That definitely woke us up, and we took advantage of that momentum and got the win today."

The Braves grabbed an early lead when Acuna homered to lead off the bottom of the first and tossed his bat after walking slowly up the first-base line while watching the ball leave the yard.

However, Miami responded with four runs off Fried, Atlanta's ace and an NL Cy Young Award front-runner. For the upstart Marlins, it was a momentum-building start for a club projected before the season to contend more for the top overall pick in the draft than a playoff spot.

With the Marlins riding high from the early 4-1 lead, Miami starter Sandy Alcantara hit Acuna with a pitch with one out and no one on in the third inning. When stories about bad blood between the Marlins and Braves made the rounds before the series, most of it stemmed from similar incidents. Acuna has now been hit by a pitch from a Marlins hurler five times in his career. No other club has clipped him more than twice.

Acuna walked toward the mound after being hit but then went to first base without saying anything, according Alcantara, who added that he did not take exception to Acuna's post-homer bat toss.

"Something happened," Alcantara said. "I just tried to go inside and I hit him. I don't know why they think every time we hit Acuna, it's [on] purpose. We always try to pitch inside to him."

The umpiring crew issued warnings to both teams after the incident, and Braves manager Brian Snitker raced on to the field in anger. After the game, Snitker said his ire was the product of a combination of factors: the history between the teams, the fact that it was Acuna and the umpire warning, which could have resulted in the ejection of a pitcher on either team if another batter had been hit.

"He hit a long homer and got hit with a 97 [mph pitch]," Snitker said. "My reaction wasn't good. It was unfortunate. I guarantee [Alcantara] wasn't trying to hit him. But if you're going to go in, you make sure you don't hit him. It comes to a point where if you keep dinging that kid, the middle of the plate is taken away. It's happening too much to [Acuna]."

Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, "I knew he didn't hit him on purpose, but Acuna, you can't just lay the ball over the plate."

Still, coincidence or not, intentional or not, the Atlanta offense perked up after Acuna was struck.

"You don't think he was doing it on purpose, but you want to stand behind your teammates," Fried said. "You want to be supportive. Obviously, it lit a bit of a fire under us, and we were able to get going. I think it was a little bit of motivation."

One batter after Acuna was hit, the Braves got back-to-back doubles to cut the Miami lead to 4-3, with Marcell Ozuna and d'Arnaud collecting the RBIs. Alcantara settled down, and Miami still led until he was chased when Austin Riley and Acuna singled to start the Braves seventh.

That's when the dam broke loose for the Marlins. With hard-throwing righty Yimi Garcia in from the Miami bullpen, Ozuna singled to tie the game. Then d'Arnaud came up with the game's biggest blow, hammering a three-run homer to center field, putting Atlanta ahead 7-4. Dansby Swanson capped the six-run rally with a two-run homer, and the Braves cruised to the Game 1 win.

"As long as we have a strike left, we're pretty dangerous," Snitker said. "We got down, but with a lot of the game to work with, these guys can score a lot of runs in a hurry, as we saw."

The Acuna-Alcantara incident was the hot topic in postgame interviews, even as the interviewees mostly acknowledged that upon reviewing the pitch, Alcantara's offering was as he described -- an attempt to go inside that got away. Then again, for Acuna, it was a familiar outcome.

"I guess you could say I've gotten used to it at this point," Acuna said via an interpreter. "But I'm not going to give it any more thought. I'm going to keep myself focused on my game and what we have coming up."

With the win, everything turned out well for the Braves, which is probably the best revenge of all, if there was revenge to be had. Whether it was the hit by pitch or simply that the Atlanta offense was one that finished one run behind the Dodgers for the big-league lead in regular-season scoring, one thing was clear: Acuna is not about to be daunted by the Marlins.

After the game, Acuna tweeted, "They have to hit me, because they don't get me out."

They have to hit me , because they don't get me out ???

— Ronald Acuna Jr (@ronaldacunajr24) October 6, 2020

He also took to his Instagram account to post a picture of him tossing the bat after the first-inning home run and captioning it, "I'd like to take this time to apologize to absolutely NOBODY."

View this post on Instagram

''I'd like to take this time to apologize to absolutely NOBODY

A post shared by EL ABUSADOR?? (@ronaldacunajr13) on Oct 6, 2020 at 2:34pm PDT

When asked to clarify the Instagram caption, Acuna simply reiterated, "I really don't have much to say. I just really don't think I have anything to apologize for."