Tampa Bay Rays get sweep of New York Yankees
MLB playoffs
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NEW YORK -- Victor Mesa Jr. hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night with the help of a fan interference call for a three-game sweep of their AL Division Series.
Ryan Vilade also homered for the Rays, who reached the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2020 and host the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in the opener on Monday.
After Mesa's homer gave the Rays a 4-2 lead, Anthony Volpe appeared to hit a two-run shot against Griffin Jax with two outs in the bottom half as a fan reached over the left-field wall and caught the ball over the glove of a leaping Mesa.
A video review determined the ball would not have been over the wall and would not have been caught by Mesa. Volpe was awarded an RBI double and George Lombard Jr. was allowed to score from first. Jax recovered to strike out Spencer Jones.
Guards stay alive
CHICAGO -- Jo Adell and Jose Ramirez powered Cleveland with a pair of two-out triples, and the Guardians avoided an AL Division Series sweep by cooling off the Chicago White Sox with a 9-3 victory in Game 3 on Wednesday.
Adell's three-run triple gave Cleveland a 4-1 lead in the third inning. Ramirez's three-bagger drove in Travis Bazzana and Patrick Bailey for a 7-3 advantage in the eighth.
"We continued to pile on," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. "I think that's been the difference of the first couple games to today was Game 2, we were able to get a couple runs but weren't able to add on. But really good job by our guys today."
The Guardians hit two triples in a postseason game for the first time in franchise history. They became the first major league team to accomplish the feat since the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees.
Dodgers advance
ATLANTA -- With one pivotal swing, Andy Pages sent the Los Angeles Dodgers into the National League Championship Series and transformed his postseason legacy.
Pages drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to give Los Angeles the lead, and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Wednesday night to clinch their NL Division Series.
The Dodgers won back-to-back games in Atlanta to take the best-of-five matchup 3-1 and advance to the NLCS as they seek to become the first National League team to win three straight World Series.
Pages lined a full-count pitch from Robert Suarez up the middle to drive in Teoscar Hernandez, who singled off starter Tyler Mahle, and pinch-runner Tommy Edman for a 3-1 lead.