Rookie Victor Mesa Jr. belted a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays earned a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep of their American League Division Series.
The Rays are headed to the AL Championship Series for the third time in club history and will host the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in a best-of-seven series that begins Monday.
Tampa Bay also celebrated at Yankee Stadium for the second time this season after clinching the AL East title with a 6-1 win over the Yankees on Sept. 22.
The Yankees were thwarted in part by a fan-interference call that overturned a potential game-tying homer from Anthony Volpe in the bottom of the sixth. A fan reached over the left field fence and the ball caromed off the spectator’s palm. Volpe was originally awarded a home run, but following a crew-chief review, he was placed on second with an RBI double.
New York starter Max Fried (1-1) allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He fanned seven without issuing a walk.
Dodgers 4, Braves 1
Andy Pages’ two-run single in the seventh inning broke open a pitchers’ duel and helped visiting Los Angeles close out its National League Division Series against Atlanta in Game 4.
The Dodgers, who won the series 3-1 and are looking to be the first National League team to win three straight World Series, await the Brewers, who advance after beating the Padres.
Pages’ hit was Los Angeles’ first with runners in scoring position in the series after the team started 0-for-14. He had two of the Dodgers’ five hits and two of their three RBIs in the win. Tyler Mahle (0-1) was a tough-luck loser for Atlanta, charged with two runs (one earned) on three hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Brewers 3, Padres 1
Jackson Chourio delivered the tiebreaking single and Garrett Mitchell robbed a potential game-tying homer in the eighth inning to help Milwaukee advance to the National League Championship Series.
Aaron Ashby (1-0) tossed three innings of scoreless, hitless relief for the Brewers, who halted their major-league-record-tying 12-game postseason road losing streak dating back to 2018. Milwaukee finished off the best-of-five NL Division Series with a 3-1 edge. Milwaukee will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS for the second straight season. The Dodgers swept the four-game set last year when the Brewers scored just four runs.
Fernando Tatis Jr. homered in the third inning for the Padres. The only other San Diego hits came in the first inning, when Jackson Merrill singled and Manny Machado followed with a bunt single. The Padres wound up leaving the bases loaded without scoring in that frame.
Guardians 9, White Sox 3
Jose Ramirez collected his first two hits of the American League Division Series, drove in two runs and contributed a key defensive play as visiting Cleveland trimmed Chicago’s lead in the best-of-five to 2-1.
Guardians pitchers struck out 19 batters to set a single-game major league record for a nine-inning postseason game. Foster Griffin (1-0) fanned seven in 2 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Cleveland’s Jo Adell hit a three-run triple.
Chicago reliever Bryan Hudson (1-1) allowed three runs in one-third of an inning. White Sox pitchers issued 10 walks.
