After the eight-course playoff meal Major League Baseball served up to fans on Wednesday, the quadruple-header on Thursday seemed more like a rich dessert.
Three teams experienced the sweet taste of victory by closing out their respective wild-card series, while one avoided a bitter end to the season by forcing a do-or-die Game 3 on Friday.
Our USA TODAY staffers have opened their notebooks to share their thoughts on each of the games on the wild card schedule – focusing on the game-changing (or potentially series-changing) moments.
So let's take a look at the most important takeaways from Thursday's playoff action.