Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know, brought to you by David Adler. Today we wonder if we'll get our last Division Series clinch, and look ahead to the NLCS rematch between baseball's top two teams.
Three clinches down, one to go. Will it happen tonight?
The Dodgers, Rays and Brewers all punched their tickets to the League Championship Series yesterday. (Better luck next year, Braves, Yankees and Padres.) That leaves one spot left to be claimed by either the White Sox or Guardians.
The White Sox had the chance to sweep their American League Division Series yesterday, but they couldn't get it done in their first postseason game at home. They get another crack at it tonight in Game 4. And the whole city of Chicago has White Sox fever.
But we've got ourselves a series. The Guardians are still facing elimination, trailing 2-1, but they've gotten the ball back to their pair of aces -- Parker Messick, who starts Game 4 tonight, and Gavin Williams for a potential winner-take-all Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday.
Of course, the White Sox already beat both Messick AND Williams in the first two games of this series. So we don't want to get ahead of ourselves here. On the other hand, if José Ramírez is going to get hot, this Guardians team is going to be a tough out.
We'd love to see the drama of at least one Game 5 in the Division Series. The Rays, who await the winner of Guards-Sox in the ALCS, swept out the Yankees, and the Dodgers and Brewers both won their series in four.
Not that there wasn't plenty of drama in those other series -- from walk-offs to near no-hitters to potential game-changing home runs being taken off the board by robberies, fan interference and the roof.
So let's see what happens tonight. Will the White Sox clinch their first playoff series in Chicago since 1906? Or will the Guardians force a Game 5 for all the marbles?
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EVERYTHING TO KNOW FOR ALDS GAME 4 |
Here are the details on tonight's game, including how to watch and the biggest storylines.
Guardians at White Sox (White Sox lead series 2-1)
8 p.m. ET on TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Pitching matchup: Parker Messick (Guardians) vs. Hagen Smith (White Sox)
The White Sox beat Messick in Game 1 thanks to a big home run by Munetaka Murakami, but it's going to be hard to beat the star rookie left-hander twice. Chicago's strategy of using its own star rookie southpaw, Smith, as an opener has paid off handsomely in the playoffs so far, as the Sox have won both games he's started.
Key storylines
1) Is J-Ram back?
José Ramírez struggled all year. He struggled in the first two games of the ALDS. And then … he won the Guardians Game 3 with a vintage all-around performance: 2-for-4 with a double, triple, two RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base, plus a game-changing play at third base. That's the J-Ram that can win you a playoff series.
2) Can the White Sox crowd keep this series from flipping?
The White Sox were way better at home this season (48-33 at Rate Field vs. 36-45 on the road). Now those fans are hungry for their long-awaited postseason clinch -- and in the most hotly contested rivalry in baseball this year, you'd think that atmosphere could make a difference. But the Guardians silenced the White Sox crowd in Game 3. Will Chicago be able to flip the energy back in its favor in Game 4? Or are we going back to Cleveland (where, it's true, the White Sox have already won twice)?
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While the Rays wait for their opponent in the ALCS, the National League Championship Series matchup is set -- and it's a rematch: Dodgers vs. Brewers.
One side is going for a historic World Series three-peat. The other is going for the first World Series title in franchise history. And these were the best two teams in baseball in the regular season.
The Dodgers might be the reigning champs, but the Brewers are MLB's top dogs this year. They won 103 games, the best in the Majors (the Dodgers won 100, also not too shabby).
Matchups like this don't happen that often -- this is only the 10th time since the advent of the League Championship Series in 1969 that the top two teams in the Majors have faced off in the LCS. The last time was in the 2018 ALCS, when the top-seeded Red Sox took down the Astros before going on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series.
Game 1 is Sunday in Milwaukee. And we're lined up (unofficially) for a dream pitching matchup to open the series: Tarik Skubal vs. Jacob Misiorowski. The back-to-back Cy Young winner against the Cy Young heir apparent.
With any luck, that'll be just the start of a thrilling back-and-forth series. Maybe it'll join the list of the very best postseason rematches, a la Yankees-Red Sox in 2004 or Cardinals-Astros in 2005.
Last year's NLCS between these two teams was over way too quickly. The Dodgers swept the Brewers and Shohei Ohtani played the single greatest game in baseball history. We want this one to last a little longer.
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BACK AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME |
We know you've seen Garrett Mitchell's home run robbery of Manny Machado by now -- the play that swung Game 4 of the NLDS for the Brewers.
And you might've been feeling déja vú. Manny definitely was. He was robbed of a home run in the exact same place, the exact same way, nine years ago.
You remember that one. It was one of the most memorable plays in World Baseball Classic history -- Machado robbed by his then-Orioles teammate Adam Jones, who was playing for Team USA.
It's crazy how similar those two home run robberies are. Same batter (Machado), same stadium (Petco Park), even same part of the ballpark (right-center field). Even Machado's swing and walk out of the batter's box look the same.
Here they are side by side (we synced up the catches so you can really see it):
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LAST CHANCE TO VOTE FOR ALL-MLB TEAMS |
You have less than 24 hours to vote for the 2026 All-MLB Teams.
Voting ends tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET. So fill out your ballot before then at MLB.com/allmlb, and help decide which players get honored as the best in the Majors this year.
The ballot is also available in Spanish at MLB.com/todomlb.
The All-MLB Teams include one catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop and designated hitter, three outfielders, five starting pitchers and two relief pitchers. The teams are based on performance in the 2026 regular season only.
The selections for the All-MLB Teams will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
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