By: Sam Gubner

Houston Astros @ New York Yankees:

The Yankees have always been longtime winners with 27 World Series titles, while the Astros are known as longtime losers, never winning a World Series in their 53 years of existence. But the Astros now stockpiled with young talent faced off against the Yankee Pinstripes on Tuesday trying to turn the tide. No Houston players had more than one hit, but the team made the few hits it had count.  Outfielders Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez hit solo home runs and second baseman, Jose Altuve, adding an RBI single for good measure. The Yankees, on the other hand, could not get on the scoreboard.  The Astro’s CY Young candidate, Dallas Keuchel, handed the “Bronx Bombers” a good ol’ goose egg. The Astros would end up routing the Yankees 3-0: defeating the best franchise in sports history. Now in their next series they have to face off against last year’s Wild Card and American League defending champions, the Kansas City Royals.

Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates:

Jake Arrieta dominated the Pirates in a 4-0 shutout. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

In the 1989 film Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly is surprised to find out the Chicago Cubs have won the 2015 World Series after a drought of over 100 years. The Cubs now had the opportunity to begin to make this bold prediction a reality when they faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday. The beginning was full of struggles for Pirates ace Gerrit Cole who gave up four runs due to the strong performance of the Cubs’ duo of Kyle Schwarber and Dexter Fowler. On the flipside, Cubs pitcher, and CY Young contender, Jake Arrieta, dominated the Pirates by striking out eleven and walking none, which had never been accomplished before in postseason history. With the Pirates struggling, tension arose in the seventh inning where Pirates reliever Tony Watson hit Cub’s pitcher Jake Arrieta with a pitch. This intentional hit set off a bench-clearing fight between both teams and the eventual ejection of Pirates first baseman Sean Rodriguez, who had thrown punches at Cub’s players and the dugout water cooler, which led to much social media attention. After that outburst, the Cubs would go on to win 4-0 keeping the film’s vision alive.  Now, the Cubs have a challenge of facing the St. Louis Cardinals who had the best record in baseball this season.