This sports recap from Friday, October 16 to Sunday, October 18 features three stories: the Tampa Bay Rays are one win away from the American League pennant, college football saw a day of upsets with the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams falling, and the Golden State Valkyries won Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
On Sunday, October 18, the Rays defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 at Progressive Field in front of 36,303 fans. With this result, they lead the American League Championship Series 3-2, in a best-of-seven game series.
Drew Rasmussen was the standout player. The right-hander allowed one run in seven innings, with four hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. After Chase DeLauter's single with two outs in the first, he retired nine consecutive batters. He used his changeup 27 times, compared to just 12 in the first game of the series. The Rays scored one run in each of the first three innings. Yandy Díaz, with three hits, opened with a double and scored on a bases-loaded walk to Jonny DeLuca. Jonathan Aranda and Liam Hicks drove in the other two runs.
Cleveland responded in the seventh with a DeLauter RBI single. Steven Kwan had two of the Guardians' five hits and also threw out Taylor Walls at home and caught a Victor Mesa Jr. fly ball in center field. Bryan Baker closed out the ninth and reached 35 consecutive saves. Starter Parker Messick pitched only two innings, allowing two runs.
A day earlier, on Saturday, October 17, the Rays tied the series 2-2 with a 7-3 win in Game 4, which was rescheduled due to rain postponing the game on Friday. Aranda had three hits and two RBIs. Díaz added two hits and two RBIs, including a two-run homer in the ninth off Matt Festa. In the seventh, a DeLauter error allowed two runs to score. Nick Martinez allowed one run and two hits on a 46-degree Fahrenheit night, the coldest postseason game in Rays history. Travis Bazzana hit his first postseason homer for Cleveland.
The Milwaukee Brewers, National League champions, are already waiting in the World Series.
On Saturday, October 17, five of the top eight teams in the AP ranking lost, something that had never happened before on the same day of the regular season, according to Sportradar. Additionally, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams fell on the same day in the regular season for the first time since November 17, 2012. The rankings cited are prior to each game.
On Saturday, October 17, the Golden State Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream 68-64 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, in front of 18,064 spectators, and took a 1-0 lead in the WNBA Finals. Gabby Williams led with 26 points and Kaila Charles added 10 rebounds. Tiffany Hayes had four assists.
For Atlanta, Allisha Gray scored 19 points, Angel Reese grabbed 12 rebounds, and Jordin Canada had seven assists. Golden State had won all three regular-season matchups between the two teams.
