The Rays Swept the Yankees and Will Host the ALCS Monday as Cleveland Tries to Force a Game 5 in Chicago

The Tampa Bay Rays are in the American League Championship Series, and they will find out tonight or Saturday who they play. Tampa Bay finished a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees with a 4-3 win at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, and Game 1 of the ALCS is set for Monday, Oct. 12, at Tropicana Field. The Chicago White Sox lead the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 in the other Division Series after Cleveland stayed alive with a 9-3 win on Wednesday, and Game 4 is Thursday at 8 p.m. ET at Rate Field.

A White Sox win sends Chicago to its first ALCS since 2005. A Cleveland win forces a decisive Game 5 on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Progressive Field.

How the Rays finished the sweep

Game 3 was the closest of the three. Ryan Vilade homered in the fourth inning in his postseason debut, and Victor Mesa Jr. hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth. The Yankees appeared to tie the game when Anthony Volpe drove a ball that left the yard, but a replay review ruled fan interference and awarded Volpe a run-scoring double instead. Kevin Cash argued the play should have been an out and lost that argument, and MLB's replay center said the ball would neither have left the field nor been caught.

Tampa Bay's pitching handled the rest. Nick Martinez got 11 outs and allowed two runs, Ian Seymour threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, Kevin Kelly struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton to strand a runner in the eighth, and Bryan Baker pitched the ninth for his third save in three games.

The sweep was built on run prevention. Drew Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a 1-0 Game 1 win, finishing with 7 2/3 hitless innings and 10 strikeouts before Austin Wells doubled and was thrown out at third. Freddy Peralta allowed one run over 4 2/3 innings in a 5-2 Game 2 win in which the Yankees committed four errors. The Rays allowed five runs in three games.

It was the first sweep of a best-of-five or longer series in franchise history and the Rays' first series win since the 2020 ALCS. Tampa Bay finished 98-64, won the AL East for the first time since 2021 and earned the top seed. The franchise has advanced past the Division Series only twice before, in 2008 and 2020, and reached the World Series both times. For New York, it was the first time being swept in a best-of-five postseason series since the 1980 ALCS.

Game 4 tonight: Messick vs. a White Sox bullpen game

Cleveland starts rookie left-hander Parker Messick, who went 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA in 32 regular-season starts. He took the loss in Game 1, allowing two runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings, and he has a 2.45 ERA with 18 strikeouts and two walks in 14 2/3 innings at Rate Field this season, per MLB.com.

Chicago will again open with left-hander Hagen Smith. In Game 1, Smith threw 2 2/3 hitless innings with four strikeouts before the bullpen took over, and the White Sox are 2-0 when using an opener in this series. As in Game 1, the bullpen is expected to carry most of the innings.

The game airs on TBS, truTV and HBO Max. It was originally slotted for the afternoon and moved to 8 p.m. ET after the Rays finished off the Yankees.

What changed in Game 3

Cleveland's offense finally broke through. Jo Adell's bases-clearing triple, which stayed just inside the first-base line, capped a four-run third inning, and Jose Ramirez added a two-run triple in the eighth. Seven Cleveland pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts, a postseason record for a nine-inning game, including eight of the final nine outs.

That is the Guardians' path. In the first two games, both Chicago wins at Progressive Field, Cleveland's lineup could not get the big hit, and the White Sox bullpen, led by closer Grant Taylor, closed both doors. Game 3 showed what happens when the Guardians do get it. They now need to repeat it on the road against the same bullpen.

The context still favors drama. Cleveland won the AL Central at 85-77, one game ahead of Chicago, after erasing a 3 1/2-game deficit in the final month. The White Sox went 84-78, swept the Astros in the Wild Card Series as the No. 6 seed, and became the first team in MLB history to reach the postseason after three straight 100-loss seasons. Chicago won the regular-season series 7-6 and outscored Cleveland by one run, 58-57.

Betting angle

The market makes the trailing team the favorite tonight. Cleveland was priced around -117 to -118 on the moneyline Thursday, with the White Sox around -102 to -103, per SI and WKYC betting previews, and the total sat at 7.5. That reflects Messick's season against a Chicago staff that again has to cover most of nine innings with relievers.

For the ALCS, the Rays will have home field regardless of opponent. Tampa Bay also has the rest edge: whoever wins in the Central gets at most one or two days off before Monday, and the White Sox in particular have been leaning on their bullpen every night. Verdexed's game-by-game call is on the MLB predictions page (/mlb/predictions).

Fantasy and DFS takeaways

Tonight is a two-team slate in most formats, so the decision tree is short. Messick is the only traditional starter, and his Rate Field numbers make him the obvious pitching play. On the hitting side, Adell and Ramirez are the Cleveland bats in form. Chicago's hitters carry more risk against a left-hander who has pitched well at Rate Field this year.

Looking to the ALCS, Rasmussen is reported to be lined up for Game 1 on extra rest because the sweep spared him a Game 4 start. He was the best pitcher in the Division Series and should be the top pitching option on Monday's slate. Shane McClanahan, who was left off the ALDS roster with left forearm tightness, is worth monitoring when ALCS rosters are set. Baker, with a save in every game so far, is the clear ninth-inning arm in Tampa Bay.

What's next

If Chicago wins tonight, the ALCS matchup is Rays vs. White Sox and Tampa Bay knows its opponent with three full days to prepare. If Cleveland wins, Game 5 is Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in Cleveland, and the winner flies to St. Petersburg with one day of rest.

ALCS Games 1 and 2 are Monday and Tuesday at Tropicana Field on TBS, truTV and HBO Max, with Game 3 shifting to the opponent's park on Thursday, Oct. 15. The Rays' rotation, with Rasmussen, Peralta, Martinez, Griffin Jax and Seymour all used in some role, is set up for whoever arrives.