Baseball: Blue Jays Rout Rangers in ALDS Opener  —  (The Sports Xchange) - Marco Estrada allowed four hits in 8 1/3 innings and the Toronto Blue Jays battered Cole Hamels for seven runs and took Game 1 of the American League Division Series 10-1 Thursday.  —  Toronto, which eliminated …

A Message to Red Sox Nation  —  PHOTOGRAPH BY BILLIE WEISS/BOSTON RED SOX/GETTY IMAGES  —  The playoffs start tonight.  You ready?  I know you're ready.  —  I know exactly how you feel right now.  You wanna know something?  Before I was a Red Sox player, I was a Red Sox fan.  For real.

Giants Put INF Nunez on NLDS Roster Against Cubs  —  CHICAGO — The San Francisco Giants put Eduardo Nunez on their roster for the NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs after the third baseman had been sidelined with a strained right hamstring.  —  Nunez, an AL All-Star this season with Minnesota, hasn't played since Sept. 25.

Out-by-out examination: When Buck should have used Britton  —  If there's one thing to take away from how the Orioles' Buck Showalter managed the wild-card game Tuesday, it's that you should call your mom right now and tell her you love her — or your spouse, or your son or daughter, or your best friend.

Coaching Notes: Bonds, Wallace, McDowell, Mets  —  Barry Bonds, who learned this week that his contract as the Marlins' hitting coach won't be renewed for the 2017 season, issued a statement on his time with Miami on his personal web site yesterday. … A few more notes on some coaching situations throughout the league...

LEADOFF: Braves' TV ratings plunge 35 percent to fourth lowest  —  Good morning.  LEADOFF brings you today's early buzz in Atlanta sports:  —  The Braves' improvement on the field in the second half of the season didn't carry over to their TV ratings.  —  Historically one of baseball's …

Joe Buck reveals that hair plug addiction nearly cost him his career  — Buck has said that a virus cost him his voice for part of 2011, but that was a lie.  His loss of speech was a side effect of a hair transplant procedure.  —  an hour ago  —  Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck feared …

Brian Cashman not expecting free agent splash but stresses need to ‘fortify’ Yankees' pitching staff  —  The Yankees' offense was the biggest problem in 2016, but when Brian Cashman sits down with the rest of the front office in the coming days and weeks to formulate a winter plan …

Manfred: Cards-Astros hacking decision during offseason  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball plans to have a decision during the offseason on possible discipline stemming from the investigation of a St. Louis Cardinals employee who hacked into a Houston Astros computer system.