Your MLB Playoffs update!

Cards rip Nats 8-0 take 2-1 lead

Set aside the high-pressure task of postseason pitching that Chris Carpenter routinely masters for the St. Louis Cardinals and think about this:

Even the take-it-for-granted act of breathing feels odd on occasion now that he’s missing a rib and two neck muscles.

Taking the mound for only the fourth time in 2012 after complicated surgery to cure numbness on his right side, the 37-year-old Carpenter spoiled the return of postseason baseball to Washington by throwing scoreless ball into the sixth inning, and the defending champion Cardinals beat the Nationals 8-0 Wednesday to take a 2-1 lead in their NL division series.

Giants whip Reds 8-3, even NLDS at two games a piece

Angel Pagan connects on the second pitch of the game. A Giants team that finished last in homers goes on to hit three. Tim Lincecum pitches like a two-time Cy Young winner — this time, out of the bullpen.

So many unusual things moved San Francisco to the verge of an unprecedented comeback.

Pagan hit the first leadoff homer in Giants postseason history, and Gregor Blanco andPablo Sandoval connected later for an 8-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday that evened their NL Division Series at 2-2.

No team has recovered from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series by winning three on the road, according to STATS LLC. This one can do it with a victory on Thursday at Great American Ball Park

Yankees rally to edge Orioles in 12

The highest-paid player in baseball could only sit and watch when Raul Ibanezpinch hit for him and tied the game with a bottom-of-the-ninth home run.

Alex Rodriguez had another good view from the dugout three innings later when Ibanez homered to win it.

Saved by manager Joe Girardi’s gutsy move — and Ibanez’s big swings — the New York Yankees rallied for a stunning 3-2 win in the 12th over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five AL division series.

A’s nip Tigers 4-3 even ALDS at 2-2

Seth Smith hit a game-tying two-run double off Detroit closer Jose Valverde in the ninth inning and Coco Crisp capped Oakland’s most dramatic comeback yet with an RBI single as the Athletics staved off elimination for a second straight night with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 of the AL division series Wednesday.

The A’s rode 14 walkoff wins in the regular season to an improbable AL West title. Those paled in comparison to No. 15, which set up a win-or-go-home Game 5 against Justin Verlander and the Tigers.

Wow, this sets up another quadruple-header tomorrow