After the first game of teh Major League Baseball playoffs, my prediction bracket was already broken.

But my prediction of a New York Mets-Toronto Blue Jays World Series is still alive now that we’re down to the final four teams.

It all started when southpaw Dallas Keuchel dominated the New York Yankees in a mostly uneventful American League Wild Card game.

Keuchel’s Astros then took a 2-1 series lead in the AL Divisional Series against the Kansas City Royals, but it didn’t last long.  The Astros blew a 6-2 lead in the eighth inning of Game 4 as the Royals rallied to score five runs and win the game.

The Astros could not answer back, and didn’t put up much of a fight against Royals ace Johnny Cueto in Game 5. The Royals are headed to their second straight AL Championship Series, as I fully expected.

Facing them will be the resurgent Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays fell meekly in the first two games of their ALDS against the Texas Rangers, and headed to Texas for a win-or-go-home Game 3.

They took the next two games effortlessly, despite playing on the road with their backs against the wall. This led the Canadians to a decisive Game 5 in Toronto.

And boy, what a game it was. Texas took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh thanks to one of the stranger runs you’ll ever see scored, but JoshDonaldson tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. The,  the next batter, slugger Jose Bautista, clubbed a go-ahead three-run home run, complete with a glorious bat flip.

That was all she wrote for the Rangers, as both Texas teams were eliminated on the same day and Toronto was headed to the ALCS.

In the National League, Jake Arrieta and the Chicago Cubs breezed past the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game, as I predicted. They moved onto the NLDS to face their bitter division rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals.

The young Cubs shocked the baseball world by taking down the Cardinals somewhat handily. Their youngsters each tore the cover off the ball. After being shut out in Game 1, the Cubs won each of the next three to eliminate the Cardinals and move onto the NLCS.

After a riveting five-game NLDS, the New York Mets will now be joining the Cubs in the NLCS. The Los Angeles Dodgers and their two aces, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, weren’t enough to halt the Mets. Second baseman Daniel Murphy helped back up a strong Mets pitching staff.  My World Series pick is still alive.

The Mets will take the NLCS as well. Their filthy starting pitching, along with a mixed offense of consistent veterans and high-upside youth, will be too much for the inconsistent Cubs to handle.

In the AL, the Jays big right-handed bats will be too much for the Royals’ weak rotation, and Toronto righty Marcus Stroman will continue to make his mark in October.

But the powerful Jays will be unable to touch the Mets’ high-octane pitching, as the Metropolitans will win the World Series.

No matter what the outcome, the remainder of this postseason, consisting of three teams not in the 2014 playoffs, will be a very entertaining one to watch.

Read Josh Iversen’s postseason predictions that were published before the playoffs began at www.thecalifornianpaper.com.