Welcome to Staten News, where the Yankees went home early and Cleveland's pitchers struck out everything with a pulse.
⚾ Cleveland Refused to Die
Saturday night in Cleveland, the Guardians finished a comeback almost nobody pulls off. Down 0-2 to the White Sox in the ALDS, they won three straight elimination games and closed it out 2-0 in Game 5.
The pitching was ridiculous. Gavin Williams struck out 12 by himself, then Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith piled on for 21 strikeouts total. That's a record for a single MLB game, regular season or postseason.
Read that again. Twenty-one outs on strikes, with the season on the line.
The path there wasn't quiet either. Cleveland lost 3-0 and 4-3 to open the series, then flipped it with back-to-back 9-run games (9-3 and 9-5) before the shutout. José Ramírez played through pain the whole way and set the tone in the middle of the order.
Cleveland is chasing its first World Series trip since 2016. The obstacle is the AL's No. 1 seed.
🗽 The Yankees Forgot How to Score
Tampa Bay swept the Yankees 3-0 in the other ALDS: 1-0, 5-2, 4-3.
Six runs in three games. This is the same lineup that put up 18 runs in two Wild Card games against Boston, winning 9-0 and 9-2. The bats showed up for the Red Sox and disappeared the moment the Rays' staff got a look at them.
For anyone who backed the Yankees after that Wild Card round, this one stings. Two blowouts made them look like the scariest team in the bracket. Three close losses proved October doesn't care about last week.
🍺 Milwaukee Steals Game 1
The Brewers beat the Dodgers 2-1 Sunday in Milwaukee to take a 1-0 NLCS lead.
Brice Turang hit a solo home run. Luis Lara drove in the other run with a single. Jacob Misiorowski only made it 4⅓ innings, which meant the Milwaukee bullpen had to cover the rest against the Dodgers lineup. It did.
Both teams got here in four games. Milwaukee took out San Diego 3-1, closing it with a 3-1 win in Game 4. Los Angeles handled Atlanta 3-1, winning Game 4 by a 4-1 score.
Because Milwaukee won the opener at home, Game 2 tonight is the swing game. Win it and the Brewers fly to Los Angeles up 2-0. Lose it and the Dodgers take home field with three straight at Dodger Stadium.
🏈 Sunday in New York: A Tie and an Ugly Win
The Giants and Commanders played 70 minutes and finished 27-27.
It should have gone to New York. The Giants drove deep in overtime, deep enough to win it, and Cam Skattebo fumbled on his third straight carry. Washington got the ball back, moved 38 yards in four plays, and then fell apart. With no timeouts left, Jayden Daniels scrambled, went down with the clock running, and the snap never came in time.
Jameis Winston led the comeback after an early fumble, leaning on Malik Nabers (11 catches, 121 yards, 1 TD) and Isaiah Likely (11 catches, 94 yards, 2 TDs). Daniels was 17-of-25 for 199 yards and ran for 109 more with two rushing touchdowns. Giants kicker Dominic Zvada missed three field goals, which is how a game like this ends up tied in the first place. New York sits at 3-1-1.
The Jets beat the Browns 17-12 in the rain, and it looked exactly like that sounds.
Garrett Wilson opened the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown, and Braelon Allen sealed it from 22 yards out. The defense carried the day with eight sacks, three of them from rookie David Bailey. The offense, meanwhile, fumbled four times (two lost) and took 10 penalties for 102 yards. A win's a win. The Jets are 2-3.
Around the league, the Patriots dropped 45 on the Raiders. Drake Maye threw four touchdown passes and ran for another.
📅 The Week Ahead
Tonight is a doubleheader of real consequence. NLCS Game 2, Dodgers at Brewers, starts at 5 p.m. ET on Fox/FS1. ALCS Game 1, Guardians at Rays, follows at 8 p.m. ET on TBS.
ALCS Game 2 is Tuesday in Tampa. The NLCS moves to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Thursday. The ALCS shifts to Cleveland Thursday and Friday.
The question for Cleveland isn't talent. It's arms. A team that just needed every reliever it had for three elimination games walks straight into the AL's top seed with one day off. If the Guardians steal one of the first two in Tampa, the series turns into a different conversation at home.
Sunday, the Giants host the Saints at 1 p.m. at MetLife, and the Jets head to New England to face a Patriots offense that just scored 45.
This is the week that decides whether Cleveland's run was a miracle or a warning.
Sources: MLB.com Postseason Schedule and Results, CBS Sports Playoff Bracket, Yahoo Sports Guardians Report, NFL.com Week 5 What We Learned
— The Bandicoots ⚾🏈