Playoff suspense: Win-or-go-home games this postseason

It has been the postseason of chewed nails, gritted teeth and rally rituals. Game 7 of the National League Championship Series was played Monday night, the seventh win-or-go-home game this October. Paste BN Sports' Paul White takes a look at the top moments from each elimination game to date:

Oct. 5: Cardinals-Braves

The 6-3 St. Louis victory will be remembered most for a controversial infield-fly ruling as Atlanta tried in vain to rally in the eighth inning. A 19-minute delay caused by fans throwing debris will have that kind of impact, but calling that the turning point is more likely wishful thinking and maybe a bit of sentimentality. The game turned out to be the last of Chipper Jones' career and, though his last at-bat was a single, his lasting impact on this game was a bad throw on a likely double-play grounder that spurred the three-run fourth inning that wiped out a 2-0 lead for the Braves and pitcher Kris Medlen, who had been unbeatable over the second half of the season.

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Oct. 5: Orioles-Rangers

The Rangers were confident it was just a matter of time until they worked over Joe Saunders. After all, the Baltimore starter was 0-6 with a 9.38 ERA in his career at Texas. They got a run in the first and Baltimore's bullpen was working. But it was still 1-1 in the fourth when Nelson Cruz and Michael Young hit one-out singles. Saunders struck out Mike Napoli in an at-bat Napoli later said he would replay in his mind 1,000 times. When Geovany Soto's grounder ended the inning, little did the Rangers know they wouldn't have two runners on base in another inning until the ninth. By then, the Orioles were in command with their final 5-1 margin.

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Oct. 11: Giants-Reds

It was the most gripping at-bat of the postseason, the culmination of an apparent deciding-game rout turned high drama. After Buster Posey's grand slam keyed a six-run fifth inning for San Francisco, Cincinnati kept chipping away, trying to avoid blowing a 2-0 series lead by losing three home games. The Reds left six runners on base in the fifth through eighth innings – at least one every inning. They had two on with one out in the ninth, the deficit down to 6-4, when Jay Bruce batted against Sergio Romo. Bruce fouled two pitches, then took a ball. He fouled off the next five, took another ball. Another foul, then a ball that created a full count. Finally, he hit a slider that became an easy fly ball to left field and the series ended when next batter Scott Rolen struck out.

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Oct. 11: Tigers-Athletics

The true suspense lasted but one pitch. It wasn't when Justin Verlander wound up for the first time and threw a 92 mph four-seam fastball over the plate. But it wasn't much later. With two outs in that first inning, Yoenis Cespedes hit a double off the Tigers ace. Maybe, just maybe, this Oakland team that stayed alive with a three-run ninth inning the previous night had one more shocker coming. But the first pitch after Cespedes' double was another four-seamer (95 mph this time) that Seth Smith tapped weakly to first base. The A's didn't get another runner past first base until the eighth, when the Tigers led 6-0 and were on their way to the ALCS.

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Oct. 12: Orioles-Yankees

Rafael Soriano was up in the bullpen and, make no mistake, Yankees manager Joe Girardi has no reluctance about going for the multi-inning save. CC Sabathia had finally allowed a run on three singles and walk in the eighth inning. His lead was 3-1. The bases were loaded with one out. The Yankees ace had thrown 103 pitches and now Baltimore was back to the top of the batting order. Girardi didn't budge and Sabathia didn't flinch. He struck out Nate McLouth, using a nasty slider on three of the four pitches, then got J.J. Hardy to ground out and cruised through a 1-2-3 ninth.

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Oct. 12: Cardinals-Nationals

The one-strike-away legend of 2011 returned when St. Louis rallied with four runs in the top of the ninth for a 9-7 win. Yadier Molina and David Freese worked walks after having two strikes, both taking close pitches Washington closer Drew Storen tried to catch the edges of the plate with. But this was Daniel Descalso's moment. His homer in the eighth and rally-starting double in the fifth were crucial parts of coming back from a 6-0 deficit, but his two-run, tying single in the ninth silenced a Nationals Park already in celebration. And when Pete Kozma added the decisive two-run single, St. Louis had for a second consecutive year eliminated the team with the best record in the majors.