It’s another blockbuster night in MLB’s league championship series — and what a night it’s been so far.
First, the Cleveland Guardians got their first win of the ALCS in dramatic fashion. They tied the game in the ninth with a two-out, two-run homer before David Fry blasted a two-run shot in the 10th inning for the 7-5 walk-off victory over the New York Yankees, cutting New York’s series lead to 2-1. Meanwhile, in the NLCS, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the New York Mets at Citi Field.
With all four of baseball’s final four teams in action, we’ve got you covered with live updates and analysis from both games, plus takeaways and what’s next for the winners and losers after the final pitch.
Live updates
Takeaways
Yankees lead series 2-1
The Guardians had Game 3 under control for the majority of the night, following a script that could not have been more perfect. Matthew Boyd threw five crisp innings to hand the advantage over to the leverage-relay squad of Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase — and it was going fine until Clase’s anchor leg of the reliever relay. Baseball’s most dominant reliever, a guy who gave up two homers during the regular season, gave up a stunning, game-tying two-run slicing blast to Aaron Judge, then a solo shot to Giancarlo Stanton.
So it was the Yankees with the perfect script, turning a two-run lead over to red-hot closer Luke Weaver in the ninth. Two down. None on. Two strikes. Lane Thomas doubled off the wall to keep the Guardians alive. Then, on the second pitch he saw, rookie pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel launched one into the left-field seats. The scripts? Out the window. And the new script called for a starring role for Cleveland’s super-utility All-Star David Fry, who hit a two-run blast to left off of Clay Holmes to walk it off for Cleveland. The Guardians were very close to dead, and now they are very much alive. This game will have a win probability chart that looks like the worst rollercoaster ride ever designed.
What to watch in Game 4: The Guardians and Yankees will both turn to young righties making their postseason debut in Game 4 — Gavin Williams for Cleveland, Luis Gil for New York. Gil had the much better regular season. Both pitchers have been trying to stay sharp with simulation games and side sessions. We’ll see who is ready from the opening bell tomorrow, but the early innings on Friday will be critical. Either way: We have a series. — Bradford Doolittle
Matchup
All times Eastern
Dodgers lead series 2-1
Pitching matchup: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75 ERA)
Lineups
Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
Mookie Betts (R) RF
Teoscar Hernandez (R) LF
Tommy Edman (S) SS
Enrique Hernandez (R) 3B
Max Muncy (L) 1B
Will Smith (R) C
Andy Pages (R) CF
Chris Taylor (R) 2B
Mets
Francisco Lindor (S) SS
Mark Vientos (R) 3B
Pete Alonso (R) 1B
Brandon Nimmo (L) LF
Starling Marte (R) RF
J.D. Martinez (R) DH
Jose Iglesias (R) 2B
Harrison Bader (R) CF
Francisco Alvarez (R) C
