MLB Playoffs Recap: Rays Sweep Yankees, Dodgers and Brewers Reach the NLCS, Guardians Stay Alive, Plus NHL Results and DFS Takeaways

Wednesday decided three of the four Division Series. The Rays swept the Yankees to reach the ALCS, the Dodgers eliminated the Braves, the Brewers eliminated the Padres, and the Guardians avoided elimination with a record-setting strikeout night. All four road teams won. The Yankees, Braves and Padres are finished, and the Dodgers and Brewers will meet in an NLCS rematch starting Sunday.

Below are the results, the stories behind each eliminated season, the series by the numbers, what comes next on the ALCS and NLCS schedules, the players who moved DFS slates, and the NHL results from Wednesday night. Every game links to its box score. We are not quoting betting prices because they move all day.

The Playoff Picture After Wednesday

Eliminated: Yankees, Braves and Padres. Advanced: Rays (ALCS), Dodgers (NLCS) and Brewers (NLCS). Still playing: White Sox and Guardians, with Chicago leading 2-1 and Game 4 on Thursday. The winner of that series faces Tampa Bay in the ALCS.

Where Every Series Stands

Rays sweep Yankees 3-0 (ALDS). Game 1, Game 2, Game 3. Tampa Bay advances to the ALCS.

White Sox lead Guardians 2-1 (ALDS). Game 1, Game 2, Game 3. Game 4 is Thursday at 8:00 PM ET in Chicago.

Dodgers beat Braves 3-1 (NLDS). Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4. Los Angeles advances to the NLCS.

Brewers beat Padres 3-1 (NLDS). Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4. Milwaukee advances to the NLCS.

The Division Series by the Numbers

The scores tell you how close three of these series were. Tampa Bay outscored New York 10-5 across the three games, and the Yankees never scored more than three in a game. Los Angeles outscored Atlanta 14-8 in four games, and Milwaukee outscored San Diego 13-10 in four, with all three Milwaukee wins by one or two runs. In the series still alive, Cleveland has outscored Chicago 12-10 and trails 2-1, because the White Sox won Games 1 and 2 by 3-0 and 4-3 and the Guardians won Game 3 by six.

MLB Results

Rays 4, Yankees 3: Rays Complete the Sweep

Box score. Tampa Bay finished the sweep in the Bronx and reached the ALCS for the first time since 2020. Jonathan Aranda put the Rays ahead with an RBI single in the third, Ben Rice tied the game with a single for New York, and Ryan Vilade homered in the fourth. The decisive swing came in the sixth, when Victor Mesa Jr. hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Max Fried, with Junior Caminero on after a single. Nick Martinez started for Tampa Bay, Ian Seymour threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Kevin Kelly struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton with a runner on in the eighth, and Bryan Baker pitched the ninth for his third save of the series.

The play of the night came in the bottom of the sixth. Anthony Volpe appeared to hit a two-run homer off Griffin Jax, but replay showed a fan reached over the left-field wall and caught the ball over Mesa's glove. After review the home run was overturned and Volpe was credited with an RBI double, with George Lombard Jr. scoring from first instead. It cost New York a run that would have tied the game.

Guardians 9, White Sox 3: Cleveland Forces Game 4

Box score. Cleveland used Daniel Espino as an opener, and he did not get through the first inning. Foster Griffin entered with two outs and runners in scoring position and went 2 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts, a record for a Cleveland reliever in the postseason, and earned the win. Seven Cleveland pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts, a postseason record for a nine-inning game.

Jo Adell delivered the decisive hit, a bases-clearing triple in a four-run third inning, and José Ramírez added a two-run triple in the eighth. Kyle Teel had given Chicago a 1-0 lead with a first-inning double, and in the fifth Travis Bazzana caught Teel's line drive and doubled off a runner at second to kill a rally. Chicago rookie Noah Schultz made his postseason debut and allowed one run over three innings, but the White Sox walked at least nine and struck out 19 times.

Dodgers 4, Braves 1: Dodgers Advance to a Third Straight NLCS

Box score. Michael Harris II singled, stole second and scored on a wild pitch in the first inning, and Shohei Ohtani tied it in the second by stealing third and scoring on an error by Mauricio Dubon. Tyler Glasnow started for Los Angeles and went 4 2/3 innings with one run, five walks and five strikeouts on 78 pitches. Tyler Mahle pitched into the seventh for Atlanta.

The game turned in the seventh, when Andy Pages, who was hitless in the first two games of the series, hit a two-out, bases-loaded single that drove in two runs for a 3-1 lead. Max Muncy homered in the ninth, and Edwin Díaz recorded the save. The bullpen bridge ran through Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez, Tanner Scott, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias before Díaz. The Dodgers have won five straight road postseason games, tying a franchise record, and are 14-3 in their past 17 road playoff games.

Brewers 3, Padres 1: Brewers End Their Road Losing Streak and Advance

Box score. Milwaukee started Robert Gasser against Walker Buehler, who was back from the paternity list. Sal Frelick singled and stole a base in the third, Garrett Mitchell drove him in with a single, and Fernando Tatis Jr. answered with a solo homer in the bottom half, his first of the series. Jackson Chourio's RBI single in the fifth put the Brewers back in front and made him the franchise's career postseason RBI leader, passing Ryan Braun with his 17th. Frelick's sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 3-1.

Gasser allowed one run, Aaron Ashby threw three scoreless innings for the win and Trevor Megill got the save. San Diego used Robbie Ray in relief, and he took the loss after allowing one run in his only inning. Mitchell also made the defensive play of the night, leaping at the wall in the eighth to rob Manny Machado of a deep fly that would have tied the game. San Diego closer Mason Miller returned from the paternity list and pitched a scoreless seventh. The win was Milwaukee's first postseason victory on the road since 2018 and ended a record-tying streak of 12 straight road postseason losses.

Three Seasons Ended

Yankees: Swept Without Aaron Judge

New York got in as a wild card, swept the Red Sox 2-0 in the Wild Card Series, and then ran into the No. 1 seed. The Yankees scored five runs in three games against Tampa Bay, losing 1-0, 5-2 and 4-3. Aaron Judge missed the entire postseason after straining a calf on September 16, and he played only seven games after May 31 because of a fractured rib and the leg injury. Ben Rice was the offense in Game 2 with two solo homers, and nobody else could consistently support him. It was the Yankees' first best-of-five sweep since the 1980 ALCS and their 17th straight season without a World Series title.

Braves: Wild Card Win, Then a Four-Game Exit

Atlanta made the postseason for the eighth time in nine years after missing it in 2025, and then beat the Phillies 2-1 in the Wild Card Series, clinching with a 6-2 win in Game 3 behind a three-run first-inning homer from Michael Harris II, a two-run shot from Ozzie Albies and a solo homer from Matt Olson. Ray Kerr threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his postseason debut that night. The Braves won Game 2 against the Dodgers 3-2 but lost the other three games, including Wednesday's at home.

Spring-training injuries hit the rotation, and Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin and Ha-Seong Kim all missed time, which sank the offense in June. Atlanta rebuilt with a trade-deadline addition in Mahle, who had a 1.28 ERA in his first eight starts with Atlanta, and Olson reached 40 home runs for the second time in his career. Chris Sale anchored the rotation.

Padres: A September Surge Falls One Round Short

San Diego went 18-6 in September to claim the top NL wild card spot, swept the Cubs 2-0 in the Wild Card Series, and had won the regular-season series against Milwaukee 4-2. San Diego forced Game 4 with a 4-3 win in Game 3, but scored only one run in the finale. Machado's deep fly in the eighth was the closest they came to tying it. It is the Padres' third NLDS loss since 2020, after exits in 2020 and 2024.

What Comes Next

ALDS Game 4: Guardians at White Sox, Thursday, October 8, at 8:00 PM ET. Chicago can reach the ALCS with a win. If Cleveland wins, Game 5 is Saturday, October 10, in Cleveland. Check the starting pitchers page for the probable starters and the MLB weather page before first pitch.

ALCS: Tampa Bay hosts Game 1 on Monday, October 12, after four days off, against the winner of the Chicago-Cleveland series. Game 2 is Tuesday, October 13, Game 3 is Thursday, October 15, and Game 4 is Friday, October 16. If needed, Game 5 is Saturday, October 17, Game 6 is Monday, October 19, and Game 7 is Tuesday, October 20. The Rays clinched the AL East on September 22 as the No. 1 seed, and Baker saved all three games of the sweep.

NLCS: Dodgers at Brewers opens Sunday, October 11, at American Family Field. Game 2 is Monday, October 12, Game 3 is Wednesday, October 14, and Game 4 is Thursday, October 15. If needed, Game 5 is Friday, October 16, Game 6 is Sunday, October 18, and Game 7 is Monday, October 19. The Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the 2025 NLCS, a series in which the Brewers scored four runs in four games, and are chasing a three-peat. Milwaukee won a franchise-record 103 games, the best record in baseball, and won the NL Central for the fourth straight year.

The pitching matchup to watch is Jacob Misiorowski, who went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA and led the majors in ERA, strikeouts and WHIP, and is likely to start Game 1 for the Brewers. Milwaukee led the majors in hits, was second in runs, tied for the best team batting average and hit the second-fewest home runs in baseball. Track the series on games tonight, the schedule and MLB Live.

NHL Results

The NHL played three games Wednesday. Washington and Winnipeg won at home, and Edmonton won in Anaheim after trailing 2-0.

Capitals 5, Penguins 3

Box score. In Alex Ovechkin's final home opener, Anthony Beauvillier scored 23 seconds in, and Bryan Rust tied it 56 seconds later in his season debut after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Tom Wilson finished with a goal and two assists, Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist, and Alex Tuch scored on a 2-on-0 rush in the second period. Pittsburgh got goals from Tommy Novak and Nicholas Robertson to pull within one, but Ryan Leonard scored on the power play in the third. Logan Thompson made 27 saves and Arturs Silovs made 22 for Pittsburgh. Washington is 2-1-0 and Pittsburgh is 2-2-0.

Jets 3, Avalanche 2

Box score. Winnipeg handed Colorado its first loss of the season on a goal with one minute left. Kyle Connor scored twice, including the winner on a wrist shot from the hash marks at 19:00 of the third after a cross-ice pass from Mark Scheifele. Cole Perfetti also scored for the Jets, while Jaden Schwartz and Fedor Svechkov each had a goal and an assist for Colorado. Stuart Skinner made 32 saves for the win and Mackenzie Blackwood made 16 in the loss. Winnipeg is 3-0-1 and Colorado is 2-1-0.

One injury to watch: Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey left late in the first period with an upper-body injury, returned for a shift, and did not return. Coach Scott Arniel said the team would check on him Thursday.

Oilers 5, Ducks 2

Box score. Anaheim led 2-0 on two first-period power-play goals from Beckett Sennecke, then Edmonton scored all five of its goals in the second period. Evan Bouchard scored twice, including his NHL-leading sixth goal of the season, and added an assist. Vasily Podkolzin scored on a breakaway, Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists, and Leon Draisaitl had four assists. Kasperi Kapanen scored his 100th career NHL goal for the Ducks, and all of Anaheim's goals came on the power play. Devon Levi made 29 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers are 3-0-1 and the Ducks are 2-1-0.

DFS Takeaways

The best hockey environment was Edmonton, where one period produced five goals and strong stacking value for anyone who paired the top line with its power-play exposure: Draisaitl had four assists, and McDavid and Bouchard each had three points. Washington's top line was another strong correlation play, led by Wilson's three points and Dubois's two. Connor's two goals made Winnipeg the value story in a game few built lineups around.

In baseball, the postseason slate rewarded top-of-the-lineup bats with big moments rather than volume: Mesa's go-ahead homer, Adell's bases-clearing triple, Ramírez's late triple, Pages's two RBI and Muncy's homer. On the mound, Griffin's seven strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings were the rare relief-arm outburst, but opener games like Cleveland's remind players how hard it is to roster a starter in a bullpen game. Check the NHL DFS Edge, MLB DFS Edge and Lineup Shuffler before building the next slate.

Looking ahead, the NLCS sets up as a contrast of styles. Milwaukee won 103 games with a contact-first lineup that led the majors in hits but hit the second-fewest home runs, and the Brewers managed only four runs in four games against Los Angeles in last year's NLCS. The Dodgers have won five straight road postseason games and bring a bullpen that used six arms Wednesday. For DFS, that points toward pitching and run-prevention value, so monitor the starting pitchers page, the hot-tonight board and the MLB start/sit board when the Game 1 starters are confirmed.

Betting Takeaways

Wednesday was a night for road teams. All four MLB road teams won, which is a small sample, but it is worth remembering when you weigh home field in a short series. Cleveland's win also showed how quickly an elimination game can swing when the opener plan works: Espino did not finish the first inning, and Griffin came in with runners in scoring position and turned the game around.

In the NHL, Edmonton erased a two-goal deficit created entirely by Anaheim's power play, and Winnipeg beat an unbeaten Colorado team on a goal with a minute left. Early-season hockey is volatile, and with tiny samples the lineup, goaltending and special-teams news matters more than team records. Compare the numbers on the NHL book heat map, MLB book heat map, NHL props board, MLB props board and Hit Board, then check our calls at MLB verdicts and NHL verdicts.