Munetaka Murakami's 440-Foot Homer and Drew Rasmussen's One-Hitter Swing the ALDS Openers

Both American League Division Series opened Saturday with the preseries underdog landing the first punch, and both were decided by pitching. Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer off Parker Messick and five White Sox pitchers combined on a three-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Guardians at Progressive Field. A few hours later at Tropicana Field, Drew Rasmussen did not allow a hit until two outs in the eighth inning, and the Rays beat the Yankees 1-0 on a Jonathan Aranda solo homer off Gerrit Cole.

That leaves Chicago and Tampa Bay each one win from a commanding 2-0 lead, with both Game 2s set for Monday. For bettors and DFS players, Game 1 told us a lot about how these managers intend to use their staffs, and that should shape how you approach Monday's slate.

White Sox 3, Guardians 0: Murakami and a bullpen game

White Sox manager Will Venable went with a bullpen game, and it worked. Rookie left-hander Hagen Smith opened and retired the first eight batters he faced before walking three straight to load the bases in the third. Bryan Hudson came on and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left, ending Cleveland's best threat of the day.

The only offense Chicago needed came in the fourth. Miguel Vargas led off with a single to left, and Murakami drove a first-pitch elevated sinker from Messick 440 feet into the right-field stands, per the Associated Press. MLB tracking had the ball leaving the bat at 112.2 mph, the hardest-hit ball of this postseason, and it was Murakami's first career playoff home run. Colson Montgomery added a run in the seventh with an RBI double down the left-field line that scored Kyle Teel.

Closer Grant Taylor then did something rare: he worked the final four innings for the save. He became the sixth pitcher in postseason history to record a save of at least four innings, and the first since Lance McCullers Jr. in the 2017 ALCS, per the AP. The five Chicago pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts. The White Sox have won nine of their last 11 games and have yet to trail this postseason, per MLB.com.

Messick took the loss, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. The rookie was not bad, but one pitch to Murakami was enough against a Chicago staff that never let Cleveland string anything together.

Rays 1, Yankees 0: Rasmussen nearly perfect

The Yankees managed one hit. Rasmussen threw eight innings, allowed one hit, walked two and struck out 10 on 101 pitches, per the AP. His 10 strikeouts tied Tyler Glasnow's franchise postseason record. The lone hit was an Austin Wells double with two outs in the eighth, and Wells was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Bryan Baker pitched a perfect ninth for the save, striking out three, including pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton.

Cole was solid in a losing effort: one run on five hits with five strikeouts over five innings. The run came on Aranda's homer off a 2-2 changeup into the right-center stands, his first career postseason hit. The AP noted it was the first time the Yankees lost a 1-0 postseason game since Don Drysdale and the 1963 Dodgers beat them in the World Series. The crowd of 40,542 was the largest at the Trop since 2010.

The context matters for the rest of the series: Aaron Judge is not on the Yankees' ALDS roster. He has not played since straining the soleus muscle in his right calf on Sept. 16, and manager Aaron Boone chose to give him more time to build up rather than carry a limited version of him, per multiple reports. Without Judge, New York's lineup looked exactly as thin as the sweep of Boston had masked.

Game 2 probables and schedule

Cleveland's Gavin Williams went 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA and led the AL with 248 strikeouts in 184.1 innings. Chicago has not formally named a starter, but right-hander Sean Burke is expected to cover the bulk of the innings after being held out of Game 1 to line up on regular rest.

In Tampa Bay, the Rays have confirmed Freddy Peralta for Game 2, per MLB.com and CBS Sports. Peralta was the AL Pitcher of the Month for September after posting a 0.96 ERA with 23 strikeouts and nine walks across five starts. Some early previews listed Nick Martinez as the likely Game 2 arm, but the club's announcement settled it on Peralta. The Yankees counter with Cam Schlittler, widely viewed as the AL Cy Young favorite.

Betting angle

Before the series began, the market had the Guardians as roughly a -140 to -145 favorite to advance with the White Sox around +120, and the Yankees as a slight favorite over Tampa Bay at about -120 with the Rays near even money. Both of those prices were set before Game 1, so expect the series numbers to have flipped or tightened. Check your book before acting.

The Yankees side is the more interesting pressure point. New York is now an underdog in the series math facing a must-win road Game 2 against a pitcher who finished September as the best in the league, and the offense just produced one hit without Judge. Schlittler is the reason anyone would back New York Monday, so watch whether the Game 2 moneyline prices him as a true ace or leans into the Peralta form. Totals in this series should open low; two of the best run-prevention arms in the AL are on the mound, and the Game 1 run environment at the Trop gave you no reason to expect otherwise.

In Cleveland, the logic runs the other way. Williams is a strikeout pitcher at home in a game the Guardians almost have to win, and Chicago is again likely to piece together innings behind Burke. The White Sox bullpen threw a lot of high-leverage innings Saturday, Taylor most of all, so his availability for a second straight save chance is a real question.

DFS and fantasy angles for Monday

Gavin Williams is the strikeout play on the AL side. He led the league in strikeouts, and Chicago's bulk-pitching plan means he should be the only starter in that game expected to work deep. His ERA is higher than his strikeout total suggests, so treat him as a ceiling play rather than a safe floor.

Cam Schlittler and Freddy Peralta are both strong pitcher options, and in a tight, low-total game the strikeout and outs-recorded props carry more of the value than the win. Rasmussen showed the Yankees' lineup is vulnerable to high-whiff stuff without Judge.

Murakami is the bat to keep stacking from Chicago. He produced the hardest-hit ball of the postseason against an All-Star lefty, and Williams' strikeout profile makes him a volatile but high-ceiling one-off. Jonathan Aranda and the Rays' left-handed bats get a right-hander in Schlittler, but this is a lineup that scored one run on Saturday; keep Rays exposure light.

Avoid White Sox relievers in any format that rewards innings until you know who is fresh. Taylor covering four innings means Venable may need someone else to close Monday.

What to do in your league

If you play postseason-only or best-ball playoff formats, Game 1 shifted value. Murakami and the Chicago bullpen arms gained, and Messick's short outing dents his remaining value for a series Cleveland may not extend. On the Yankees side, Judge's absence for the entire round means any New York hitter you hold needs Game 2 and beyond to deliver without him. If you are buying Yankees bats, do it with eyes open: the offense has to solve Peralta and then whoever starts Game 3.

For DFS on Monday, the cleanest build pairs Williams with one of the two Tropicana Field starters and uses a light Murakami or Montgomery stack. Verdexed's full game projections for the slate live at /mlb/predictions.

What's next

Both series shift to their Game 3 sites after Monday. A Yankees loss would put New York one game from elimination with Judge still sidelined, and a White Sox win would leave Cleveland needing three straight wins. Monday's starters are set or close to it, so the main thing to monitor is Chicago's official Game 2 announcement and whether Taylor is available out of the bullpen.