Daniel Espino and Sean Newcomb Open ALDS Game 3 as Max Fried Tries to Keep the Yankees Alive

Both American League Division Series could end Wednesday, and the two clubs trying to stop that have very different plans. The Cleveland Guardians will open their elimination game at Rate Field with rookie right-hander Daniel Espino, while the Chicago White Sox counter with veteran left-hander Sean Newcomb as their own opener in Game 3 at 4 p.m. ET on TBS. Four hours later, Max Fried takes the ball at Yankee Stadium against Tampa Bay's Nick Martinez with the New York Yankees also down 2-0.

The White Sox are one win from their first ALCS since 2005 after taking two one-run games in Cleveland. The Rays are one win from eliminating their division rival after holding the Yankees to two runs in 18 innings. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series advance roughly nine times in ten, per MLB.com, The Yankees at least get to play at home; Cleveland has to win three straight, the first two in Chicago.

Cleveland goes unconventional

Espino's selection was the surprise of Tuesday's workout day. Manager Stephen Vogt's staff has run a more traditional rotation than most playoff teams, but the Guardians used Espino as an opener three times during the regular season, and the arm that followed him is the reason. Over three September outings behind Espino, left-hander Joey Cantillo allowed four hits and four walks with 17 strikeouts over 15 scoreless innings. MLB.com lists Cantillo, Tanner Bibee and Foster Griffin as the possible follow-up options, so Cleveland can attack Chicago's lineup with a right-hander for a time through and then pivot.

The pitching is not Cleveland's problem, though. The Guardians have three runs on seven hits and eight walks through two games, per MLB.com. Jose Ramirez is 0-for-6 and Angel Martinez is 0-for-8. Gavin Williams struck out 11 in Game 2 and still lost, and the decisive swing came after Vogt went to his bullpen in the sixth. The projected Cleveland lineup leads off with Steven Kwan, Ramirez, Chase DeLauter and Jo Adell, whose 413-foot triple in Game 2 was one of the few loud moments for this offense.

Chicago stays in bullpen mode

Newcomb is a natural fit for the White Sox approach. The 10-year veteran posted a 3.09 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 90 1/3 regular-season innings, recorded four saves and made six starts, and he owns a 2.61 ERA against Cleveland this season. Will Venable's staff wants his left arm against a Guardians order that leans left-handed, and Venable said that with no off-day ahead if the series goes to Game 4 Thursday, who is available will drive the plan more than any script.

The usual suspects are fresh enough to matter. Grant Taylor recorded a four-out save Monday after four scoreless innings in Game 1, Hagen Smith threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the opener and Jordan Hicks has four scoreless innings this postseason. MLB.com lists Davis Martin, Noah Schultz, David Sandlin and Erick Fedde among the arms who have not been used yet in the series. The White Sox order features Miguel Vargas, Munetaka Murakami (a Game 1 homer) and Game 2 hero Braden Montgomery.

Yankees: Fried vs. Martinez

The Yankees game is the one the market leans toward the home team. Fried is 5-1 with a 1.81 ERA in seven career starts against Tampa Bay and went 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA in three starts against the Rays in 2025, per MLB.com. He held Boston to one run on three hits over six innings in the deciding Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. Aaron Boone has said he will probably start Carlos Rodon in Game 4 if New York gets there.

Martinez, 36, went a career-best 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA over 31 starts and made his first All-Star team in July. He has been better on the road (7-3, 2.38 ERA in 16 starts), the Rays went 22-9 when he started and he held the Yankees to three runs over 12 innings at home this season. Wednesday is his ninth career postseason appearance but his first playoff start.

The Yankees remain without Aaron Judge (calf), and Clarke Schmidt has been ruled out for the postseason. Ben Rice is the lone source of offense, 7-for-15 with four homers this postseason after his two-homer Game 2. Tampa Bay is missing Shane McClanahan (forearm) but has not needed him: Drew Rasmussen nearly no-hit New York in Game 1, and Freddy Peralta and the bullpen handled Game 2.

Fantasy and DFS fallout

The opener-versus-opener game in Chicago is a hitter's DFS spot more than its total (8 runs) implies, because neither team's opener is likely to face a lineup twice and the bulk pitchers are uncertain. The cleanest pitching value is whichever Cleveland bulk arm follows Espino; if it is Cantillo, his September run behind the same opener makes him a strikeout candidate in formats that reward relief innings, but nothing will be confirmed until the game unfolds. Avoid Newcomb and Espino in salary-cap formats; their ceiling is two or three innings.

On the hitting side, Montgomery, Murakami and Vargas are the White Sox stack core. For Cleveland, Ramirez is a buy-low leverage play: he is hitless in the series, his ownership should be suppressed, and a right-handed opener gives way quickly to whoever follows.

In the Bronx, Fried is the safest pitcher on the Wednesday slate given his track record against Tampa Bay, though the Rays' long at-bat approach held Cam Schlittler to two strikeouts in Game 2, his fewest of the season, so lean toward outs and win equity over raw strikeouts. Rice is the only Yankees bat with form; pairing him with a Rays one-off such as Jonathan Aranda, who has hit in both Tampa Bay wins, is a reasonable game-stack hedge.

The Verdexed angle

The White Sox at roughly -120 at home against a team that has scored three runs in two games is a short price, but the opener matchup injects variance that favors the underdog more than the price suggests: in a bullpen game, the deeper set of rested arms usually wins, and Chicago has leaned on Taylor for multiple innings in both games. The Yankees price is the market trusting Fried and Yankee Stadium over two games of evidence that New York cannot hit Tampa Bay's staff. A team with one extra-base threat is a fragile favorite, and Martinez's road splits are the reason the Rays are not a bigger underdog. For the full board and lines, see /mlb/predictions and today's MLB picks.

What's next

If Cleveland and New York both win, Game 4s are Thursday: Guardians at White Sox at 5 p.m. ET and Rays at Yankees at 8 p.m. ET, with Rodon probable for New York. If only one ALDS needs a fourth game, it moves to 8 p.m. ET. A White Sox win sends Chicago to the ALCS for the first time in 21 years and gives it the franchise's first home postseason series clincher since the 1906 World Series; a Rays win ends a Yankees season played without Judge. Watch for the lineup cards in Chicago, particularly whether Vogt shuffles a top of the order that has gone quiet.