Guardians complete historic ALDS comeback as LCS matchups are set
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians are headed back to the American League Championship Series.
The Guardians blanked the Chicago White Sox 2-0 in Saturday's winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS at Progressive Field, completing a historic comeback from a 2-0 series deficit. José Ramírez provided all the offense with a two-run home run in the fourth inning, while starter Gavin Williams tied a franchise postseason record with 12 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
Cleveland is the 11th team in MLB history and the first since the 2017 New York Yankees to win a best-of-five series after dropping the first two games.
The Guardians now face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS, which opens Monday at 6 p.m. MT at Tropicana Field. The Rays swept the New York Yankees in three games and have had nearly a week to set up their rotation exactly as they want it. Tampa Bay went 5-1 against Cleveland in the regular season, including a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field in which the Rays outscored the Guardians 15-3 with two shutouts.
Drew Rasmussen, who carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of ALDS Game 1 against the Yankees, is the likely Game 1 starter for Tampa Bay. The Guardians' starter is to be determined. Williams won't be available after throwing Saturday.
It's Cleveland's second ALCS appearance in three seasons. The Guardians haven't reached the World Series since 2016 and haven't won a championship since 1948, the longest active drought in baseball.
On the National League side, the Milwaukee Brewers host the Los Angeles Dodgers in a heavyweight NLCS that opens Sunday at 6 p.m. MT at American Family Field.
The pitching matchup is the story of the series. Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts), the National League Cy Young frontrunner, faces two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in Game 1. Skubal allowed one run over six innings with seven strikeouts in his Dodgers postseason debut against Atlanta.
Game 2 pits Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Milwaukee's Logan Henderson, with Robert Gasser slated for Game 3 for the Brewers.
Milwaukee won 103 games this season to earn home-field advantage; the Dodgers won 100. Los Angeles swept the Brewers in last year's NLCS, but Milwaukee went 4-3 against the Dodgers this season and is seeking its first World Series appearance since 1982.